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ADVERTISEMENTWestern allies do not impose any restriction on the use of long -range weapons delivered to Ukraine against Russian military targets, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.
Merz stressed that the restrictions were lifted not only on German weapons.
“There is no longer any restriction on the range of weapons issued to Ukraine, neither by the United Kingdom, France, nor the United States. There are no restrictions in the United States either,” he said at a discussion forum organized by the public broadcaster, WDR.
He said that Ukraine can now “defend himself, for example, by attacking military facilities in Russia”.
“Until recently, he couldn’t do that, and apart from the very exceptions, it hadn’t done it either.”
The German Chancellor stressed that while kyiv uses his weapons to target Russian military infrastructure, Russia continues to attack “kindergarten cities, hospitals and houses”.
“Russia attacks civilian targets completely ruthlessly, bombing cities, kindergarten, hospitals and elderly homes – Ukraine does not do so.”
Merz also revealed that this was one of the reasons for his visit to kyiv with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Poland on May 10. During this visit to the capital of Ukraine, he also declared that all the talks of supplies of future weapons with Ukraine would be maintained confidential.
In the past, Ukraine has received long-range missiles from the United States, the United Kingdom and France, but has only been authorized to use them against Russian military forces in occupied Ukrainian territories.
As for Berlin, before entering into office, Merz reported that he would cancel the ban on his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, to deliver Taurus cruise missiles from Germany, capable of grasping targets at a range of 500 kilometers.
Speaking on Monday, the German Chancellor said: “No one can now blame us for not having exhausted all the diplomatic means at our disposal.”
Lifting restrictions on the use of long -range weapons will “the decisive difference in the Ukraine war,” said Merz, adding that “a country that cannot oppose an attacker on its own territory does not defend itself adequately”.
