Germany’s Merz lifts range limit on weapons donated to Ukraine

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Monday that Berlin and its Western allies were lifting range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, though the practical implications of the apparent policy shift were not immediately clear.

Speaking at a European forum in Berlin, Merz declared that “there are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine, neither by the UK, France, nor us. There are no restrictions by the U.S. either.”

The decision should allow Ukraine to target military installations on Russian territory, which Moscow’s forces use routinely to stage attacks against Ukrainian cities.

Merz’s announcement came days after Russia launched a record 355 drones against Ukraine over the weekend in Moscow’s largest assault since the beginning of the war three years ago.

Ukraine has received several hundred Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles from Britain and France and shy of 50 ATACMS from the United States, tallies by defense observers show.

Merz did not mention Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles in his announcement, despite his previous advocacy for their delivery while serving as opposition leader. The 500-kilometer-range system represents Germany’s most capable long-range strike capability and is considered more precise than the systems Ukraine already possesses.

Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, had refused Taurus deliveries , citing escalation fears with nuclear-armed Russia. The Kremlin, for its part, has warned Germany that this would present a dangerous escalation.

Since taking office, Merz has remained noncommittal on Taurus transfers, though it is possible this may be part of a larger policy shift toward secrecy and strategic ambiguity.

The German government has ended the public listing of most military aid details, once a potent communications tool to trumpet the government’s contributions in the face of critics blaming Berlin for underdelivering.

Germany has provided the second-most military aid to Ukraine, after only the United States. Defense officials acknowledged in March that the country’s capabilities to supply weapons from stockpiles “have reached the limit.”

The transparency change also coincides with budget pressures. Germany allocated €4 billion for Ukraine support in its 2025 draft budget — half of what it spent in 2024.

Moscow, meanwhile, denounced the lifting of range restrictions as “dangerous,” with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warning the decision runs “contrary to our efforts to reach a political settlement.” Russia has previously threatened that Ukrainian strikes using German-made Taurus missiles would constitute “direct participation” by Berlin in the conflict.

Both ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles have already been used against targets inside Russia since late last year.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

荷兰海牙——德国总理弗里德里希·默茨周一宣布，柏林及其西方盟友将取消对乌克兰供应武器的射程限制，但这一明显政策转变的实际影响尚不明确。

梅尔茨在柏林的一个欧洲论坛上发表讲话时宣称：“无论是英国、法国还是我们，向乌克兰提供的武器种类都不再受到任何限制。美国也没有任何限制。”

该决定将允许乌克兰以俄罗斯境内的军事设施为目标，莫斯科的军队经常利用这些设施对乌克兰城市发动袭击。

梅尔茨发表此番言论的几天前，俄罗斯周末向乌克兰发动了创纪录的 355 架无人机袭击，这是莫斯科自三年前战争开始以来规模最大的一次军事行动。

据国防观察人士统计，乌克兰已从英国和法国接收了数百枚“风暴阴影”/“风暴阴影”导弹，并从美国接收了近50枚“ATACMS”导弹。

尽管梅尔茨此前在担任反对派领导人期间曾力主向乌克兰交付德国的“金牛座”巡航导弹，但他在声明中并未提及该导弹。这套射程500公里的导弹系统是德国目前最先进的远程打击能力，其精度也被认为高于乌克兰现有的同类系统。

梅尔茨的前任奥拉夫·朔尔茨曾以担心与拥有核武器的俄罗斯发生冲突升级为由，拒绝接收“金牛座”导弹系统。克里姆林宫方面则警告德国，此举将导致危险的局势升级。

自上任以来，默茨一直对金牛座的转移问题不置可否，但这可能是其政策转向保密和战略模糊性的更大趋势的一部分。

德国政府已停止公开大部分军事援助细节，这曾是政府在面对批评人士指责柏林援助不足时，用来大肆宣传其贡献的有力沟通工具。

德国向乌克兰提供的军事援助数量仅次于美国，位居第二。国防官员在3月份承认，该国从库存中供应武器的能力“已达到极限”。

透明度的提高也恰逢预算压力增大。德国在其2025年预算草案中为乌克兰援助拨款40亿欧元，仅为2024年支出的一半。

与此同时，莫斯科谴责解除射程限制“危险”，克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫警告说，这一决定“与我们寻求政治解决的努力背道而驰”。俄罗斯此前曾威胁称，乌克兰使用德国制造的“金牛座”导弹进行打击将构成柏林对冲突的“直接参与”。

自去年年底以来，ATACMS 和“风暴阴影”导弹都已用于攻击俄罗斯境内的目标。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。