Germany's Meers says weapons provided to Ukraine are no longer subject to scope restrictions

BERLIN (AP) – Germany's new prime minister said on Monday that his country and other major allies no longer impose any scope on weapons provided by Ukraine as it fights Russian invasions.

Friedrich Merz has been trapped in diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and has been supporting Ukraine since becoming Germany’s leader three weeks ago.

On Monday, he said: “There are no longer any restrictions on the scope of weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine – the British, the French, neither were American, nor American.”

“This means that Ukraine can also defend itself by attacking Russia's military stance,” Meers said in a forum organized by WDR Public Television. “Until not long ago, it could not. … Now it can.”

“We call this the term 'range fire' and also provides Ukraine with weapons to attack military targets in the hinterland,” he added.

He did not elaborate on it, and it was unclear whether he pointed out restrictions on long-distance weapons at the end of last year.

Commenting on Meers' statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decision to raise the scope limit would be “very dangerous” and “a breach of our efforts to reach a political reconciliation.”

Germany has always been Ukraine's second largest supplier of military aid.

Melz's administration silenced Taurus' long-range cruise missiles for refusing to do so, while Melz advocated as an opposition leader. The government said that unlike the Scholz government, it will no longer provide details of the weapons it provides to Ukraine, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity”.

The Taurus missile has a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles).