Ukraine can strike deep inside Russia as Merz claims US, Germany, UK, and France lift range restrictions on weapons; Moscow calls move 'dangerous'

Time of India

27-05-2025

As the Russia-Ukraine war drags on with little headway made to secure a peace deal of ceasefire despite some attempts by US President
Donald Trump
, German
Chancellor Friedrich Merz
has dropped a bombshell. In what could lead to a major escalation in the ongoing conflict, Chancellor Merz stated that the US, Germany, UK, and France have lifted range restrictions on weapons to Ukraine.
What this effectively means that Ukraine has got the go ahead and weapons from the western nations to hit targets deep inside the Russian territory. The only long-range weapons Ukraine has used against Russia till now are its indigenous armed drones. Some of these drones have hit targets in Moscow.
Ukraine has also fired some long-range missiles supplied by the United States to hit targets in Bryansk and Kursk oblasts of the
Russian Federation
. But the US and NATO supplied weapons have not been able to alter the course of the fight in Ukraine's favour.
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Now, Merz's statement, which has been called "dangerous" by Moscow, can change the dynamics of war and force Russia to escalate the fighting.
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"There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine, neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans. This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia... With very few exceptions, it didn't do that until recently. It can now do that," Merz said on Monday (May 26) at the WDR Europaforum 2025 at the re:publica digital conference in Berlin.
However, there seems to be some confusion with Germany's ruling coalition on Merz's statement with the country's Vice Chancellor and Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Lars Klingbeil explaining that as far he is concerned that has been no no development or agreement between countries on expanding the range of missiles supplied to Kiev.
Klingbeil's party colleague Ralf Stegner opined that Merz making such statements "are not helpful". Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is supported by the SPD and Christian Social Union (CSU).
Yet, Merz maintained that his statement was made only after the countries he mentioned decided to lift the range restriction, a decision he called was made "quite some time ago".
"So yesterday in Berlin I merely described what has been underway for a couple of months, namely, that Ukraine has the right to use the weapons it receives beyond its own territory against military targets on Russian soil," he said during a joint conference with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
German government not on one page?
Meanwhile, Merz's remarks were met with confusion even within his own coalition. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (Social Democratic Party, SPD) told journalists that no new agreements were made on the issue of range restrictions on German weapons sent to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory.
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The reaction from Moscow was along expected lines with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov outlining that any range restriction removal will be "dangerous".
"If these decisions have indeed been made, they are completely at odds with our aspirations for a political [peace] settlement... These are quite dangerous decisions, if they have been made," Peskov said.
Russia has long criticized Western countries for supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons. The Kremlin has also warned Germany against providing Kyiv with the
Taurus missile system
.
Long-range weapons with Ukraine
Ukraine has several long-range weapons supplied by western nations in its arsenal. The UK and France have sent Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles with a range of about 250 kilometers (150 miles). The US during the administration of former president
Joe Biden
had in November 2024 greenlighted Ukraine to use its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against targets in Russia. The ATACMS have a range of 305 km (190 mi).
The Germans have not supplied any long-range missile to Ukraine although they have the option of sending Taurus, which has a range of 500 km (310 mi).
Russia has warned Germany against sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, stating any use of the weapon by Kiev against Moscow would be viewed as "direct participation" by Berlin in the over three-year long war.