German chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised long-range weapons to assist Ukraine in defending its territory and European freedom, and to fight Russian “aggression and militant revisionism”.
The long-awaited German shift in policy, after 1,189 days of conflict, followed talks in Berlin with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Both leaders accused Vladimir Putin of “playing for time” on talks to end the three-year conflict, while Mr Merz said recent Russian air raids in Ukraine “do not peak the language of peace”.
Former chancellor Olaf Scholz was wary of providing Ukraine with long-range weapons, fearing Russia would use this to declare Germany a party to the conflict.
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On Wednesday, Mr Merz set aside such concerns, saying Berlin would not limit the range of any weapons it supplied, helping Ukraine to “defend itself fully, including against military targets outside its territory”.
“We want to make long-range weapons possible as well as joint weapons production, and will not talk in public about the details,” Mr Merz said at a joint press conference. “We will intensify our co-operation above all to give the Ukraine army every possibility to defend the country successfully.”
Following a cool relationship with Mr Scholz, Mr Zelenskiy joked and smiled with the new German leader after being received with military honours.
After the US, Germany is Ukraine’s largest supplier of arms and aid, worth in absolute terms – from missiles to air defence systems – about €28 billion, according to an official list from last month.
In another break with the Scholz administration, the German defence ministry is to stop publishing details of military aid to Ukraine, as the two countries’ defence ministers signed a new co-operation agreement on Wednesday.
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Without going into details, Germany will provide financing and the know-how of German arms companies for weapons production in both Ukraine and Germany.
The visit – and Wednesday’s announcements – will go some way to ease long-running tensions between Berlin and Kyiv dating back to 2022. In addition, it will help end months of confusion over how far Mr Merz was willing to go to back Ukraine.
As opposition leader, he criticised the Scholz administration’s restraint and backed providing Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles.
In February on the campaign trail, however, he shifted his position, making such deliveries conditional on unspecified agreement with other EU member states.
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In addition, Mr Merz has faced criticism at home for setting – then failing to act on – a deadline for fresh sanctions against Russia.
Asked about this on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said he hoped further economic action against Russia was forthcoming soon. “Only pressure will achieve something, we are waiting for further sanctions,” said Mr Zelenskiy, adding that Ukraine and the US were still waiting to hear back from Russia on peace talks.
“We are open for every platform, every format . . . Russia are looking for a way out so they don’t have to end the war,” said the Ukrainian leader.
Asked about his broken pledge of further sanctions, Mr Merz said he was optimistic the US would soon back a further, 18th package against Russia.
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Until then, he said, “you can take it that the refusal of the Russian side to participate in talks now and adopt a ceasefire now has consequences”.
In addition, the German leader promised to continue financing the Starlink satellite network in Ukraine and “do everything” to make sure the damaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline cannot be activated.
He was responding to rumours that a US-led consortium may buy up and repair the Baltic Sea pipeline network between Russia and Germany.
Finally, Mr Merz promised a fresh round of bilateral government consultations later this year to discuss postwar co-operation on energy, infrastructure, construction, agriculture and medical technology.
