Germany will help Ukraine produce ‘long-range' weapons, Merz says

Yahoo

2 days ago

Germany will help Ukraine develop new long-range weapons that can hit targets deep inside Russian territory, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, has said.
'Our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding today regarding the procurement of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons systems,' Mr Merz told reporters in a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky.
'There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend itself, even against military targets outside its own territory.'
When asked whether Kyiv would be given Germany's long-range Taurus missiles, Mr Merz dodged the question, instead referring to the new weapons agreement.
Mr Merz had pointed out in a TV interview this week that there were 'no longer any restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine - neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans'.
The comments suggested Kyiv may have been given permission to use Taurus missiles after years of reluctance by Olaf Scholz, the previous German chancellor, though this remains unclear.
In a sharp rebuke, the Kremlin accused Germany of taking an 'irresponsible position' by offering to help Kyiv develop long-range missiles, calling it a 'very dangerous trend'.
Thank you for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict.
A Kremlin propagandist has threatened that Russia will strike Berlin if Germany's Taurus missiles are fired from Ukraine into Russia.
'If German soldiers use German weapons to strike Moscow (and permission to use 'Taurus' can only mean that, since Kyiv cannot operate or program them), then we have no option but to hit Berlin,' Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russia's state broadcaster RT, wrote on Telegram.
Ms Simonyan is sanctioned by the EU, UK and US due to her alleged role in Russian state media's influence operations abroad.
Her comments come amid ongoing uncertainty over whether Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor, has agreed to send German-made long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine and whether he has lifted restrictions on them being used to strike targets inside Russia.
The Taurus has a range of 310 miles and so could reach deeper into Russian territory than other Western-supplied missiles.
Russia's military has committed 'crimes against humanity' and 'war crimes' in its drone attacks on civilians in Ukraine's Kherson region, UN experts concluded in a report published today.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the UN Human Rights Council, said Russian armed forces were 'systematically' hitting civilians.
'Russian armed forces have committed the crimes against humanity of murder and the war crimes of attacking civilians, through a months-long pattern of drone attacks targeting civilians on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Province,' the report said.
'These acts were committed with the primary purpose to spread terror among the civilian population, in violation of international humanitarian law.'
The categorical nature of that statement is unusual for such an enquiry.
The investigation said that since July last year, Russian military drone operators on the left bank of the Dnipro had 'systematically' struck civilians, and had 'targeted ambulances'.
Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Donald Trump was ready to impose new sanctions on Russia after their pivotal meeting at the Vatican last month.
In comments released today, the Ukrainian leader said that he had discussed new sanctions with the US president and he left the April meeting understanding the White House had agreed to the plan, if Russia did not commit to a ceasefire.
'President Trump supported that if Russia does not stop, there will be sanctions,' Mr Zelensky said at a briefing on Tuesday. 'Our conversation was positive from the point of view that I perceive our conversation as a confirmation of the US policy of imposing strong sanctions against Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.'
Washington has not imposed further sanctions, despite Mr Trump's growing anger towards Vladimir Putin, who he recently said is 'playing with fire' and has gone 'absolutely crazy' after recent attacks on Ukraine.
'I think America had high hopes and I think that now this feeling has been reduced a little. The feeling that Putin really wants the war to end has been reduced,' Mr Zelensky said.
Today, he once again called on the US to impose further sanctions at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The Kremlin has accused Germany of escalating the war in Ukraine by offering to help Kyiv develop long-range missiles that can strike targets deep inside Russia.
'This is a very dangerous trend, an irresponsible position that Germany is taking,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the US to impose further sanctions on Russia in order to achieve a peace settlement to end the war.
'I understand that industry in Russia is really feeling these sanctions and army is going to feel it next year from June/July,' he said. That's good,' the Ukrainian president said, but added that 'strong sanctions from the US' were needed.
'Russia is not willing to talk about a ceasefire, so the US Congress needs to approve sanctions. When that happens, the war will end more quickly. There will be a real gap in Russia's military,' he added.
Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that he was willing to impose further sanctions on Russia. US media, including CNN and the Wall Street Journal, reported that could occur in the coming days.
Ukraine's defence minister had a phone call with the a Russian negotiator, Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed.
The contents of the call or how long it lasted remains unclear.
Rustem Umerov led Ukraine's delegation during peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month, the first direct negotiations with Russia in three years. He spoke with Vladimir Medinsky.
Friedrich Merz has said that Germany and its European allies are working with the US on a new package of sanctions against Russia.
Speaking alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, the German chancellor said Donald Trump's support remained 'indispensable'.
'We count on the support of the USA, whose support remains indispensable for successful negotiations. I want now to express thanks to the American president for his personal engagement in the last few weeks,' he told reporters at a joint press conference.
When asked whether Ukraine had been given the green light to use German-made Taurus missiles to hit targets inside Russia, Friedrich Merz said he did not want to 'disclose details publicly'.
The German chancellor instead said Berlin wanted to enable to joint production of long-range missiles 'without limits'.
'Our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding today regarding the procurement of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons systems,' Mr Merz said in a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky.
'There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend itself, even against military targets outside its own territory.'
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said Russia's recent massive aerial strikes on Ukraine 'do not speak a language of peace, but speak the language of a war of aggression'.
Speaking at a press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky, he added that the attacks were a 'slap in the face of anyone working towards peace in Ukraine, Europe and the United States'.
Mr Merz vowed to increase pressure on Moscow and do 'everything necessary' to make sure the Nord Stream 2 pipeline 'will never be used again'.
Ukraine has protested to the international atomic energy watchdog about reports that Russia is building power lines to connect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to its own grid.
Yuriy Vitrenko, Ukraine's representative to the UN, said today that Kyiv sees any attempt by Russia to connect the occupied plant to its grid as a 'gross violation of international law and Ukrainian sovereignty'.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest in Europe, was captured by Russia in March 2022.
Satellite imagery, taken since early February, shows that Russian forces have laid nearly 50 miles of high-voltage lines between occupied Mariupol and Berdyansk, in what appears to be an attempt to connect the new lines to the plant.
The new German chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this week that all restrictions on the use of Western supplied weapons to Ukraine have now been lifted.
This may be significant in the case of the German Taurus cruise missiles which are probably now bound for Ukraine in numbers.
Putin's lair in the Kremlin may soon be in range of some of these sophisticated weapons, which hitherto Russian air defences have struggled to stop.
Published specifications on the Taurus suggest it may not have the range to reach Moscow, but it is much the same size and uses much the same technology as the American Tomahawk, which could definitely reach the Russian capital. Russian generals have already been assassinated near the Kremlin: it may become an even unhealthier location soon.
Belarus will scale back military drills with Russia planned for September, cutting the number of soldiers taking part and moving them away from the western border, Minsk said this morning.
The country, which borders Russia and Ukraine, has been a key ally to Moscow, allowing its territory to be used as a staging post for Vladimir Putin's invasion in 2022.
Ukraine, as well as Poland and the Baltic states, have repeatedly expressed alarm about possible military build-ups in the country.
'We have decided to reduce the parameters of the 'Zapad-2025' exercise and to move its main manoeuvres deep into the territory of the Republic of Belarus, away from the western borders,' Viktor Khrenin, the Belarusian defence minister, said in a statement today.
'The number of troops participating in the drills will be cut almost by half,' General Valery Revenko, the head of the ministry's department for international cooperation, said at a security forum in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, in Berlin.
The two leaders are expected to discuss how Europe can continue supporting Ukraine, even if the US - under Donald Trump - decided to withdraw aid.
The Kremlin has rejected Volodymyr Zelensky's call for a three-way peace summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
A spokesman for the Russian president said 'such a meeting should be the result of concrete agreements between the (Ukrainian and Russian) delegations'.
Mr Zelensky said earlier that he was ready for 'any format' after Putin failed to show up for direct peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month.
'We are ready for the 'Trump, Putin, and me' format, and we are ready for the Trump-Putin, Trump-Zelensky format, and then the three of us,' the Ukrainian president said.
'If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don't mind. I am ready for any format,' he added.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said the next date for direct peace talks would be announced soon.
It came as Reuters reported that one of Putin's key demands in peace negotiations is that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging Nato eastwards.
The Russian president also wants the West to lift a large chunk of sanctions and protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine against what the Kremlin has described as 'discriminatory laws'.
Russia has said its army had captured another village in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, where Vladimir Putin is seeking to create a 'buffer zone' inside Ukrainian territory.
In a statement on social media, Russia's defence ministry said its troops had captured the village of Kostiantynivka, which sits just inside the Ukrainian side of the border.
It comes after Moscow said it had captured four villages in the region on Tuesday.
Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Russia overnight, hitting a key microelectronics plant and forcing multiple Moscow airports to close.
Kyiv struck the Mikron factory in Zelenograd, which produces microelectronics and semiconductors used to develop missile, air defence and radar systems.
Russia said thirteen regions were targeted, including Moscow, Bryansk, Belgorod, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver and Tula.
The Kremlin's defence ministry said it shot down 296 drones, including 40 heading for the capital, affecting air travel for hours.
It said: 'During the last night... anti-aircraft defence systems destroyed and intercepted 296 Ukrainian aerial drones.'
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
Credit: Telegram
Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging Nato eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, three sources have told Reuters.
Doing so would rule out Nato membership for Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and other former Soviet republics.
Putin also wants Ukraine to be neutral, some Western sanctions lifted, a resolution of the issue of frozen Russian sovereign assets in the West, and protection for Russian speakers against 'discriminatory' law in Ukraine, the three sources said.
The first source said that, if Putin realises he is unable to reach a peace deal on his own terms, he would show Ukrainians and the Europeans that 'peace tomorrow will be even more painful'.
Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Berlin ahead of talks with Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor.
Mr Merz earlier this week backed Ukraine striking deep inside Russia with Western-supplied weapons, saying that any range restrictions had been removed months ago.
Donald Trump's envoy, Keith Kellogg, has scolded a senior Russian official for stoking fears of WW3 after the US president warned Vladimir Putin was 'playing with fire' over Ukraine.
Mr Trump said on Truth Social that Putin was playing with fire and cautioned that 'REALLY BAD' things would have happened already to Russia if it was not for Trump himself.
Dmitry Medvedev, a senior security official and Russia's former president, dismissed Mr Trump's criticism.
'Regarding Trump's words about Putin 'playing with fire' and 'really bad things' happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!' Medvedev wrote in English on the social media platform X.
General Kellogg quoted Medvedev's post and said it was reckless.
'Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment... and unfitting of a world power,' Gen Kellogg said on X.
'President Trump @POTUS is working to stop this war and end the killing. We await receipt of RU Memorandum (Term Sheet) that you promised a week ago. Cease fire now.'
Russia will announce the next round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine soon, Sergei Lavrov said this morning.
Russia's foreign minister also said that the neutrality of Ukraine - i.e. not joining Nato - remained one of Moscow's key demands.
More from Volodymyr Zelensky's interview, which was published this morning.
The Ukrainian president said Russia is amassing 'more than 50,000' troops on the front line around the northeastern Sumy border region, where Moscow's army has captured a number of settlements as it seeks to establish a 'buffer zone' inside Ukrainian territory.
'Now they are also amassing troops in the Sumy direction. More than 50,000,' Mr Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday, in remarks published on Wednesday.
Russian forces captured four villages in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to carve out a buffer zone along the border.
Read more about Russia's latest incursion here.
Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
'If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don't mind. I am ready for any format,' Mr Zelensky said in comments published this morning.
The Ukrainian president also said he would 'very much like' Mr Trump to hit Russia's banking and energy sectors with sanctions in response to a wave of aerial attacks and Moscow's refusal to agree to a ceasefire.
One of the most significant strikes during Ukraine's overnight attack was the Mikron microelectronics plant in Zelenograd, a key producer of microelectronics and semiconductors which are used to develop missile, air defence and radar systems.
Credit: Telegram/exilenova_plus
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Vladimir Putin is preparing to launch 1,000 drones at Ukraine in a single attack.
The Ukrainian president said Moscow was working to significantly expand the volume of drone strikes, aiming to launch 500 Iranian-made Shahed drones per day.
'I don't take the figure of 1,000 drones a day as constant, but I understand they could stockpile and launch a massive attack,' Mr Zelensky said.
He added that Ukraine was working on developing new technology to counter the growing drone threat.
'We're already using them. The question now is how fast can we scale,' he told the Kyiv post.
Ukraine targeted the Mikron microelectronics plant in Zelenograd during its overnight drone attack, a key producer of microelectronics and semiconductors which are used to produce missiles, air defence and radar.
Footage posted on social media shows a cloud of smoke above the plant, located in Zelenograd, a city near Moscow.
Credit: Telegram/exilenova_plus
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We'll bring you the latest news and analysis throughout the day.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.