During a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reiterated Germany's unwavering support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
The words were spoken during Zelensky's visit to Berlin, his first since Merz took office as chancellor in early May 2025, underscoring Germany's growing importance as a key European ally to Ukraine, especially at a time of uncertainty over future U.S. support.
During the press conference, Merz announced that Germany will increase funding for the production of weapons for Ukraine, including long-range systems, and strengthen the supply of military equipment. "Today our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding on the purchase of Ukrainian-made long-range weapons systems," Merz said, without specifying a specific manufacturer. He added that the weapons will have no range limitations, allowing Ukraine to defend itself against attacks on military targets outside its territory. The move is seen as a significant shift from the cautious policy of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, who was reluctant to provide long-range weapons such as Taurus missiles.
"Today, documents were signed to start financing weapons production projects. These projects are already ready," Zelensky said, indicating concrete steps to strengthen Ukraine's military self-sufficiency. The German defence ministry also announced additional military aid of around five billion euros, which will be financed from budget appropriations already approved by the German parliament.
"If I understand correctly, Merz said at the press conference that he intends to finance the production of missiles of any range in Ukraine. Supposedly there can be no question of supplying German missiles. We need to dig a little deeper into this," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments to VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin. "Both fuel tensions and encourage war. Germany is now directly involved in this war," added the Foreign Minister. According to Lavrov, the German tanks "mostly burning, not rolling". "Therefore, Berlin's direct involvement in the war is already obvious." He pointed out.
But Merz also stressed that Germany would not disclose details of military supplies in order to achieve "strategic ambiguity" and made it more difficult for Russia to obtain information about these actions. This strategy, first outlined by Merz during his visit to Kiev on May 10, 2025, is designed to ensure that Russia cannot effectively plan countermeasures.
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