Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today at a press conference after his talks in Moscow with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's statements on lifting restrictions on strikes against Ukraine deep inside Russia with European long-range weapons suggest that the decision allowing such attacks was made a long time ago, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Yesterday, Merz said that "there are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans".
Lavrov said that these statements show what kind of people who have risen to power in leading European countries really are. countries, and suggested that the decision to lift restrictions on long-range weapons strikes against Russia had been made some time ago but kept secret.
Asked about US President Donald Trump's criticism of Russia, Lavrov said the US president was showing emotions as he saw European politicians sabotaging his efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, and stressed that Europe must stop doing this.
Earlier today, Merz defended his decision to lift restrictions on the use of German long-range weapons by Ukraine. "Only those who are able to attack military bases on the territory of the aggressor can defend themselves", Merz said after talks with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in the southwestern Finnish city of Turku, quoted by DPA.
Merz said yesterday that there would no longer be any restrictions on Kiev regarding the types of weapons supplied by Germany, which prompted criticism from Russia.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the German chancellor's statement as "quite dangerous". These are "quite dangerous decisions, if they were taken", Peskov said. He stressed that the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine is "contrary to Moscow's efforts to find a political solution".