Western allies are lifting range restrictions for weapons supplied to Ukraine, Germany’s chancellor has announced.
Previously, long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine by the US, the UK and France were only allowed to be used against Russian military targets in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Friedrich Merz announced during a Europe forum organised by German broadcaster WDR: “There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine, neither by the UK, France, nor us. There are no restrictions by the US either.”
“Ukraine can now also defend itself by attacking military positions in Russia,” Mr Merz added on X.
“Until recently, it couldn’t do that, and apart from very few exceptions, it hadn’t done so either.”
Lifting the range restrictions will make “the decisive difference in Ukraine’s warfare”, according to Mr Merz.
The previous chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was reluctant to send Germany‘s most advanced weapons, notably long-range Taurus cruise missiles, to Ukraine, but Mr Merz had indicated that he would be open to sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine before being elected.
The chancellor also said earlier this month that Germany would stop publishing details of military aid to Ukraine to achieve “strategic ambiguity” and prevent Russia from gaining any strategic advantages.
“Under my leadership, the debate about arms deliveries, calibre, weapons systems and so on will be taken out of the public eye,” Mr Merz told RTL/ntv broadcasters during a visit to Kyiv on 10 May.
Germany’s government only sporadically reported military aid supplied to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, until pressure from politicians and media resulted in it publishing a list of systems and goods.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet Mr Merz during a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, sources told Reuters.
During Monday’s forum, Mr Merz also addressed the war in Gaza, criticising Israel‘s new military offensive in the enclave.
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He said that “what the Israeli army is now doing in Gaza – I don’t understand, to say it openly”.
“Harming the civilian population to the extent that has increasingly been the case in recent days can no longer be justified by a fight against the terrorism of Hamas,” Mr Merz added.
The German chancellor said he planned to call Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, this week to tell him “to not overdo it,” though for “historical reasons”, Germany would always be more guarded in its criticism than other European allies.
