Germany and allies raise restrictions on Ukraine for long -range missiles

Germany and allies raise restrictions on Ukraine for long -range missiles

The Federal Government and other Ukrainian allies have for the first time the restrictions that prohibited Ukraine to fire long -distance missiles to goals in Russia. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this on Monday after Russia had massively bombed the capital and other regions with air strikes.

New strategic course of the allies

The decision is a significant change in the attitude of the most important allies, who had to largely resist the Ukrainian requests to operate deep into Russia with western weapons. "There are no longer any reach restrictions on the weapons delivered to Ukraine," said Merz during a European forum in Berlin. "Neither from the British nor the French, nor by us. Not from the Americans."

attacks on Russia as a defense measure

Merz added: "This means that Ukraine can now also defend itself through attacks on military positions in Russia." This announcement was made in the context of record-breaking drone and rocket attacks on Ukraine last weekend. Russian President Vladimir Putin is exposed to international pressure to accept a ceasefire contract, including claims by US President Donald Trump, who is increasingly frustrated with slow progress.

merz versus scholz

Friedrich Merz was appointed Chancellor several weeks ago - his explanation is in a sharp contrast to his predecessor Olaf Scholz, who repeatedly rejected the requests of Ukraine to cancel the restrictions. However, Merz did not say whether Germany would make its powerful long -range missiles available to Taurus - something he had supported while Scholz was still in office.

US policy and the abolition of the rocket restrictions

The United States had lifted their restrictions last November; Former President Joe Biden had approved Ukraine to use the US-supplied long-range missiles atacms in Russia. However, this decision was also controversial and required months of discussions. The United States had not even delivered Atacm to Ukraine in the first two years of the war, but only provided these rockets for the first time in April 2024. Some American civil servants expressed concerns about a possible escalation of the war, which is now going on in the fourth year.

Russia reacts to the cancellation of the restrictions

Russia has opened openly that any cancellation of the restrictions on long -distance weapons could mean a war with NATO. Putin warned the West that Moscow would consider every attack that is supported by a nuclear power as a common attack - and that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it is attacked by conventional rockets. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized Merz 'announcement on Monday by stating that the restrictions were "rather dangerous".

The state of affairs in Ukraine

Ukraines President Wolodymyr Selenskyj is expected in Berlin on Wednesday, Reuters reported on several sources. The attacks of Russia at the weekend cost over two dozen human lives, including children, while Ukraine asked their western allies to continue to put pressure on Moscow to end the war. "Without really strong pressure on Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped," said Selenskyj on Sunday.

Trump's growing frustration and demands for hardness

Trump expressed increasing frustration with Putin on Monday and said that the Russian guide "completely lost his mind" while he criticized Selenskyj's statements as problematic. The pressure is also growing within Trump's republican basis, while several congress members - including Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham as well as the MPs Brian Fitzpatrick and Don Bacon - to the president to impose strict sanctions against Russia. "It is time for honesty. Peace talks have no influence on Putin," Bacon wrote on X. "The USA and allies have to arm Ukraine to the teeth."