Speaking at the “WDR Europaforum 2025” at the re:publica digital conference in Berlin, Merz stated, “There are no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine, neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans.”
Two years ago, Remix News ran a video from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, outlining how the conflict started with countries sending helmets and then tanks to illustrate how deeply the West was involving itself in the war.
The conflict appears to only be escalating more and more since Orbán issued his warning.
As the war has progressed, nations like Great Britain and France supplied advanced weapons systems, including Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles. Germany has been debating the delivery of its Taurus cruise missiles, which have a 500-kilometer range, a move Moscow has warned would make Germany a direct party to the conflict.
Merz did not explicitly mention Taurus missiles in his statement, but his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, refused to provide Ukraine with such weapons, fearing a sharp escalation of the war.
This policy change comes against a backdrop of continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and stalled peace efforts. While Merz emphasized that Ukraine does not target civilian areas — and should maintain that distinction — he stressed that a country unable to retaliate within the aggressor’s territory cannot adequately defend itself.
Notably, polling on the topic of Taurus missiles has consistently shown that a majority of Germans reject sending the missile to Ukraine.
However, it appears that Western countries are already actively targeting Russian forces. Reports from November indicated that Ukraine had already used long-range ATACMS missiles from the U.S. and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles against military targets in Russia.
Merz also cautioned that the West must prepare for a prolonged war, even as diplomatic channels remain open. He suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin views Western offers of dialogue as a sign of weakness, asserting that “Nobody can now seriously blame us for not having exhausted all the diplomatic means that exist.”
At the same time, President Donald Trump has reportedly become increasingly disillusioned with Putin following Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine.Trump recently launched an unusually sharp criticism of Putin on his Truth Social platform, describing the Kremlin chief as “absolutely crazy.”
Kremlin warns of potential German-led ‘escalation’
Moscow considers Berlin’s potential shift on Ukraine’s use of German long-range weapons against Russia as a sign of “serious escalation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on Tuesday.
His comments came in response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s declaration on Monday that there are now “no more range restrictions” on Western-supplied weapons used by Kiev against Russian military targets.
“If this is true, then this is an escalation and a serious escalation, which most severely undermines attempts for a peaceful settlement that have been made,”Peskov said, referring to the first direct peace talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine earlier this month.
Merz said on Monday that missiles from the UK, France, Germany, and the US could now be used without geographic limits against Russian military targets. His remarks sparked confusion over whether he was announcing a new policy and drew concern from within his own coalition. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said no new decisions had been made on the range of Ukrainian strikes using German weapons beyond those set by the previous government.
Ralf Stegner, a member of Merz’s coalition partner, the SPD, called the comments “unhelpful” and called for a stronger focus on diplomacy
