{"id":71280,"date":"2025-05-27T09:14:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/05\/27\/germanys-merz-lifts-range-limit-on-weapons-donated-to-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:11:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:11:40","slug":"germanys-merz-lifts-range-limit-on-weapons-donated-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2025\/05\/27\/germanys-merz-lifts-range-limit-on-weapons-donated-to-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s Merz lifts range limit on weapons donated to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">THE HAGUE, Netherlands \u2014 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Monday that Berlin and its Western allies were lifting range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, though the practical implications of the apparent policy shift were not immediately clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking at a European forum in Berlin, Merz declared that \u201cthere are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine, neither by the UK, France, nor us. There are no restrictions by the U.S. either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision should allow Ukraine to target military installations on Russian territory, which Moscow\u2019s forces use routinely to stage attacks against Ukrainian cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merz\u2019s announcement came days after Russia launched a record 355 drones against Ukraine over the weekend in Moscow\u2019s largest assault since the beginning of the war three years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine has received several hundred Storm Shadow\/SCALP missiles from Britain and France and shy of 50 ATACMS from the United States, tallies by defense observers show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merz did not mention Germany\u2019s Taurus cruise missiles in his announcement, despite his previous advocacy for their delivery while serving as opposition leader. The 500-kilometer-range system represents Germany\u2019s most capable long-range strike capability and is considered more precise than the systems Ukraine already possesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merz\u2019s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2024\/03\/13\/for-germanys-scholz-taurus-missiles-are-a-bridge-too-far-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2024\/03\/13\/for-germanys-scholz-taurus-missiles-are-a-bridge-too-far-in-ukraine\/\">had refused Taurus deliveries<\/a>, citing escalation fears with nuclear-armed Russia. The Kremlin, for its part, has warned Germany that this would present a dangerous escalation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since taking office, Merz has remained noncommittal on Taurus transfers, though it is possible this may be part of a larger policy shift toward secrecy and strategic ambiguity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The German government has ended the public listing of most military aid details, once a potent communications tool to trumpet the government\u2019s contributions in the face of critics blaming Berlin for underdelivering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Germany has provided the second-most military aid to Ukraine, after only the United States. Defense officials acknowledged in March that the country\u2019s capabilities to supply weapons from stockpiles \u201chave reached the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transparency change also coincides with budget pressures. Germany allocated \u20ac4 billion for Ukraine support in its 2025 draft budget \u2014 half of what it spent in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moscow, meanwhile, denounced the lifting of range restrictions as \u201cdangerous,\u201d with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warning the decision runs \u201ccontrary to our efforts to reach a political settlement.\u201d Russia has previously threatened that Ukrainian strikes using German-made Taurus missiles would constitute \u201cdirect participation\u201d by Berlin in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles have already been used against targets inside Russia since late last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merz did not mention Taurus cruise missiles in his announcement, casting fresh mystery on the practical implications of the apparent policy shift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3463],"class_list":["post-71280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"USY7YXUPHBATLCC4FQKF6HVSEY","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2025\/05\/27\/germanys-merz-lifts-range-limit-on-weapons-donated-to-ukraine\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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