Germany's Merz offers to help Ukraine develop its own long-range
missiles to hit Russia
[May 29, 2025]
By STEFANIE DAZIO and BARRY HATTON
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged Wednesday to help
Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of
any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets as the Kyiv
government fights to repel Russia’s invasion.
Some of the advanced weapon systems that allies have supplied to Ukraine
during the 3-year war were subject to range and target restrictions — a
fraught political issue stemming from fears that if the weapons struck
deep inside Russia, the Kremlin might retaliate against the country that
provided them and draw NATO into Europe’s biggest conflict since World
War II.
Standing beside visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Merz
said that under an intensified cooperation agreement, Germany “will
strive to equip the Ukrainian army with all the capabilities that truly
enable it to successfully defend the country,” including upgraded
domestic missile production.
After the United States, Germany has been the biggest individual
supplier of military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine will be able to fully defend itself, including against military
targets outside its own territory” with its own missiles, Merz said at a
joint news conference.
Hours after Merz's pledge, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
publicly invited Ukraine to hold direct peace talks with Moscow in
Istanbul on June 2.
In a video statement, he said that Russia would use the meeting to
deliver a memorandum setting out Moscow’s position on “reliably
overcoming the root causes of the crisis.” He also said any Russian
delegation would again be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
"We hope that all those who are sincerely interested in the success of
the peace process in more than just words will support a new round of
direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,” Lavrov said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said his country isn't opposed
to such direct peace talks but it still hasn't seen the memorandum
promised by Russia and that further meetings would be “empty” without
it.
“We call on them to fulfill that promise without delay and stop trying
to turn the meeting into a destructive one,” Umerov wrote on X. He said
he had handed such a document with the Ukrainian position to the Russian
side.
Low-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their first direct
peace talks in three years in Istanbul on May 16. The talks, which
lasted two hours, brought no significant breakthrough, although both
sides agreed to the largest prisoner exchange of the war. It was carried
out last weekend and freed 1,000 captives on each side.
Germany doesn't mention its Taurus cruise missiles
Merz declined to say whether Germany will supply its advanced Taurus
long-range cruise missile to Ukraine — long a request by Kyiv and a step
that Berlin has resisted.
The decision not to commit to giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine was a
“big disappointment,” said lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior
member of Merz's party, the Christian Democratic Union.
Merz loves “very strong personal statements” but is not able to back
them up with support from his coalition partners, Kiesewetter told The
Associated Press.
“We have a Moscow connection in Germany,” Kiesewetter said, suggesting
some politicians are in favor of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia to
end the war, along with lifting some sanctions.
Asked about Germany's offer to fund long-range missile production in
Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that the move was an
obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.
Both Merz and Zelenskyy criticized the Kremlin’s effective rejection of
an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the U.S., which Kyiv accepted.
Kyiv says Moscow has been slow to respond to proposals for a settlement.
Merz said last Monday that Germany and other major allies were no longer
imposing range limits on weapons they send to Ukraine, although he
indicated their use was limited to Russian military targets. Ukraine has
launched its own long-range drones against sites that support Russia's
military efforts, including refineries and chemical plants.
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Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, welcomes Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an official military reception
at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 28, 2025.(AP
Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden last year authorized Ukraine to use
U.S.-supplied missiles for limited strikes in Russia. The decision
allowed Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS,
against Russia.
In Berlin, Zelenskyy called for deeper defense cooperation across Europe
and with Washington, stressing the need for long-range capabilities and
sustained military funding to ensure Ukraine’s resilience.
He said the cooperation projects already exist. “We simply want (the
missiles) to be produced in the quantity we need,” Zelenskyy told
reporters.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the
highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side
knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelenskyy said he
would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one
trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Russia is grateful to Trump for his
mediation efforts.
“At the same time, there is a big number of nuances to be discussed that
can’t be neglected and which neither party is going to sacrifice,
because of its national interests,” Peskov told reporters. “Just like
the United States, Russia has its national interests that are of primary
importance to us.”
Front-line fighting, deep strikes continue
Meanwhile, fighting has continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer
(620-mile) front line, where Ukraine's army is shorthanded against its
bigger adversary. Zelenskyy claimed Tuesday that Russia is mobilizing up
to 45,000 men every month, while Ukraine mobilizes between
25,000-27,000.
Both sides are continuing to conduct deep strikes. Russia launched its
biggest drone attack of the war against Ukraine on Sunday.
Russian air defenses downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions
late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, in
what appeared to be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone assaults of the
war.
Ukraine is increasing its domestic production of drones and missiles,
according to Zelenskyy. He said late Tuesday that Ukraine wants European
countries to help it invest in the manufacture of attack drones, air
defense interceptors, cruise missiles and ballistic systems.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses shot down Ukrainian 33
drones heading toward the capital. Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov
said 42 drones were downed. He said drone fragments damaged three
residential buildings in the village of Troitskoye, but no one was hurt.
More than 60 flights were canceled Wednesday in Moscow as the capital’s
airports were forced to ground planes amid drone warnings, said the
federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya.
Overnight, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine using five
Iskander ballistic missiles, one guided air-launched missile and 88
drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defense units shot down 34 drones,
and 37 drones were jammed.
___
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Hanna Arhirova and Samya Kullab
in Kyiv, Ukraine, Emma Burrows in London and Philipp Jenne in Vienna,
contributed.
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