Germany’s newly elected chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has announced that Ukraine’s Western allies are lifting range restrictions on the weapons they have been supplying to Kyiv.
Speaking at a local political event in Berlin on Monday, Merz said the policy shift applies to weapons provided by countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, saying any such decision runs “absolutely contrary” to any future peace settlement with Kyiv.
Merz’s announcement comes amid an escalation in Russian attacks across Ukraine and criticism from US President Donald Trump, who described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “crazy” on Sunday.
So the question is, how might this decision influence future ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?
Here is what you need to know:
What exactly did Merz say?
Speaking at a forum organised by public broadcaster WDR, the German chancellor said there were “no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, and not by the Americans either”.
“That means Ukraine can also defend itself by, for example, attacking military positions in Russia,” Merz said. “Until a while ago, it couldn’t … It can now.”
“We call this ‘long-range fire’ in jargon, also supplying Ukraine with weapons that attack military targets in the hinterland,” he added.
However, it was not immediately clear whether Merz was referencing the relaxation of restrictions on longer-range weapons in November 2024, when the US allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to conduct strikes inside Russian territory.
Following the US approval, Russian authorities said on November 19 that Ukraine had attacked a “facility” in the border region of Bryansk with six ATACMS ballistic missiles, which have a range of 300km (190 miles).
A day later, Ukraine also fired long-range UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence. The Storm Shadow missile can hit targets up to 250km (155 miles) away.
What are the range restrictions?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently urged his Western allies to remove limits on the use of long-range weaponry such as the ATACMS they provide to Ukraine.
According to Zelenskyy, granting Kyiv this capability would enable Ukrainian forces to hit targets such as ammunition storage sites, airfields, and command centres far inside Russia.
However, Western allies have until now remained cautious, worried that Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia could risk widening the conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Germany, the second-largest provider of military aid to Ukraine after the US, had long resisted sending Taurus long-range cruise missiles.
Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz had outright rejected their delivery to Kyiv, despite calls from Merz to do so while he was in opposition.
The low-flying cruise missile has a range of 500km (310 miles) and is suitable for hitting buried or protected targets. The air-launched projectile would be the strongest Western missile to be used by Ukraine if Germany decides to supply Ukraine with missiles.
On Monday, Merz did not say if his announcement meant Berlin would deliver the cruise missiles to the Ukrainian army.
How has Russia responded?
Kremlin spokesman Peskov on Monday said any such decision to allow Ukraine to have long-range missile capabilities would be a dangerous move.
“These potential decisions, if such decisions have indeed been made, run absolutely contrary to our aspirations for reaching a political settlement,” Peskov said.
In September last year, President Putin had warned that if Ukraine’s Western allies allow it to use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia, it would mean NATO would be “at war” with Moscow.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict. It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries are at war with Russia,” Putin had said.
According to Timothy Ash, an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, Merz’s announcement was a “response to Russian foot-dragging”.
“The Europeans hope it will put pressure on Russia to take negotiations seriously,” he told Al Jazeera.
Ash added that the move reflected a “significant change in approach” from the German chancellor. “He is much more hawkish on Russia than Scholz,” he said.
“The two sides are still far in terms of the peace process. Both are ready for the long war – this will just help tilt the odds a little in favour of Ukraine,” he added.
Ukraine’s air force on Sunday said Russia carried out its largest air attack of the three-year-old war overnight, launching a record 298 drones along with 69 missiles. At least 12 people were killed in the attack.
How has Trump reacted to the latest Russian onslaught?
The US president has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin, as his administration’s efforts to end the war have failed to yield any results so far. He failed to secure a Ukraine ceasefire after speaking to Putin for two hours last week.
“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people. And I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
“I’ve known him [Putin] a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” adding that he was considering more sanctions on Moscow.
Trump had pledged to bring the war to a swift conclusion during his presidential election campaign trail, but five months after returning to power, he has still not been able to bring the two sides to agree on a ceasefire.
Ukraine wants an unconditional ceasefire, while Putin says “the root causes of this crisis” need to be addressed for any agreement. Moscow wants Kyiv not to be granted entry into NATO and its forces to withdraw from Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian troops. Kyiv has rejected those demands.
Trump had been critical of his predecessor, Joe Biden, for supplying weapons to Ukraine worth billions of dollars. He has asked his NATO allies to step up and provide a security guarantee to Ukraine. The European Union nations have since boosted their defence budgets and cobbled together a “coalition of the willing” to help draw up a peace plan for Ukraine.
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