Germany, alongside its allies, has announced a significant policy shift by lifting range restrictions on the arms supplied to Ukraine. Under German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this was defended on the grounds that without these changes, Ukraine could not sufficiently defend itself. He reiterated that they are critical in the fight against continued Russian aggression. This announcement comes a few days after Russia’s biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war. It brings home the urgency of the engagement.
Speaking at the Europaforum conference organized by public broadcaster WDR, Mr. Merz made clear how much the support for Ukraine is a shared responsibility. He argued that they had “done everything” they could do to support Ukraine except give up. This important policy change strengthens Ukraine’s military capabilities. It provides them the capability to strike military sites inside their adversaries’ borders.
Long-range fire is the jargon term for this capability, Merz elaborated. This would imply that we are giving Ukraine weapons to strike military targets outside of Ukraine’s borders.
Until just weeks ago, under previous German leaders it had been Germany’s longstanding policy to not send arms with a range over 70 kilometers (about 43 miles). Merz’s predecessors, not least Olaf Scholz, faced a storm of criticism for delaying the delivery of heavy weapons. This especially included the long-demanded Taurus missiles. Merz had himself been the strongest advocate for the supply of these missiles. He pledged to only do it in lock-step with Germany’s western allies during the election campaign leading up to the mid-February polling.
Yet as Merz has settled into his new office, he’s struck a more cautious tone with respect to military support for Ukraine. He expressed his concerns. He feared that Germany would reveal too much of its strategic intentions to Moscow by openly negotiating military aid. “Putin, a fluent German speaker, should not be able to find out what Berlin’s intentions were simply by watching the German TV news,” he stated.
The Chancellor’s words come at a critical time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive in Berlin on Wednesday. This trip is expected to deepen Ukraine’s alliances and rally support as discussions on continued support efforts continue.
“Merz praised the joint initiative by Germany, Britain, France and the United States in removing these restrictions. 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,” he confirmed.
Even with these advancements, Merz conceded that diplomatic solutions seem to be running out. He stated, “After the last three weeks, no one can seriously accuse us of not having exhausted all available diplomatic means.” He warned that such lofty conversations, such as discussions to arrange a meeting at the Vatican, could easily be rejected by Putin. If so, the war may be protracted well beyond our current prediction.
Today, Merz zoomed in on the latter aspect, describing how Putin sees peace proposals as signs of weakness. “Putin obviously sees offers of talks as a sign of weakness,” he remarked, indicating a need for a robust military response instead of continued diplomatic efforts.