Will Friedrich Merz lift the range limit on German weapons in Ukraine? "A complete disaster"

So what's the issue now: Did the federal government under Friedrich Merz suddenly lift the range restriction on weapons sent to Ukraine, allowing the country to attack targets on Russian territory? Or did that happen some time ago—and the excitement is unfounded?

Chancellor Merz has certainly caused confusion. Within 24 hours, he expressed support for Ukraine twice, but unfortunately, his statements diverged. This not only drew criticism from the opposition, which gratefully welcomed his words—after all, he is considered by some to be a foreign policy hawk—but he also caused unrest within his own coalition.

Merz's statements are "a complete disaster," says Left Party parliamentary group leader Sören Pellmann to the Berliner Zeitung. "On the one hand, he wants to supply more weapons and lift range restrictions; on the other hand, he says he expects the war to last longer, as it will supposedly only end with military exhaustion on one or both sides." Pellmann asks: "What does he think will be exhausted first—Russia, with its 144 million inhabitants, or Ukraine, with its 39 million people?"

Merz's voltaic turn began on Monday. The Chancellor was a guest at the Republica conference in Berlin, a digital conference. Merz was also questioned about foreign policy – ​​the topic was Germany's stance on the Israeli army's actions in the Gaza Strip and aid to Ukraine. "There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither by the British nor the French nor by us. Not even by the Americans," he said. "That means Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia. It couldn't do that until recently."

Merz spoke of "now," when this was finally possible, and of "some time ago," when the situation was different. Whichever way you look at it, that sounded like change, a change of course.

There is talk of "long-range fires," the Chancellor said at the Republica conference. He also spoke of equipping Ukraine "with weapons that attack military targets in the hinterland."

Weapons for Ukraine: In Finland, Merz suddenly sounds different

Then on Tuesday, at a press conference with Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Merz apparently sought to calm the waters. At least his coalition partner, the SPD, had already spoken out. The Social Democrats seemed astonished by the Chancellor's bold tone. Foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner described the move as "unhelpful" and called for more diplomacy. And Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil emphasized that there was "no new agreement" on the range of weapons.

In Turku, Finland, Merz said that the day before in Berlin he had "described something that has been happening for months, namely that Ukraine has the right to use the weapons it receives, even beyond its own borders, against military targets on Russian territory." This is necessary, Merz said. One cannot defend oneself sufficiently on one's own territory alone. "In this respect, Ukraine is rightly being put in a position for a long time to truly defend itself against Russian aggression."

The fact is that Merz's predecessor in office, Olaf Scholz , had authorized the use of certain weapons against positions on Russian territory in the region around the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv last year. Unlike Great Britain or France, however, the then traffic light coalition opposed any further lifting of the deployment restrictions. According to Scholz's approach, Russian President Putin should not be provoked. Under Scholz, there could be no question of following the lead of other European supporters of Ukraine on this issue, as Merz envisions.

However, Germany has so far supplied hardly any weapons that Ukraine could use to hit Russian positions or supply lines far behind the front line. The Mars II rocket launcher, with a range of approximately 85 kilometers, and the Panzerhaubitze 2000, with a range of approximately 35 kilometers, are the only two weapon systems to which this applies.

So Merz may have been referring to these two systems on Monday. That's at least what military expert and political consultant Nico Lange suspected in an interview with the news portal T-Online. Regarding the Ukrainian army's ammunition shortage, he said: "Merz's announcement will only actually change anything if Germany also supplies Ukraine with the appropriate long-range ammunition." According to research by T-Online, a long-range weapons program in Ukraine could also be financed, or a ring exchange with allied states such as France could be in the works – to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons from another country.

Left politician Pellmann calls for diplomatic initiatives

Anyone who wanted to could also interpret Merz's remarks at Republica as meaning he was preparing the delivery of Taurus. That would be a communicative detour. After all, the Chancellor himself had ordered his government to stop publicly discussing the delivery of weapons systems to Ukraine. Russia was to remain in the dark. However, anyone who takes the Chancellor at his word can hardly help but think of the long-range cruise missile. His backpedaling the following day in Finland didn't help either.

Berlin has not yet delivered the Taurus cruise missile, which has a range of 500 kilometers and could even reach Moscow. However, the US, France, and Great Britain have provided the Ukrainian armed forces with missiles, some with a range of more than 250 kilometers, which, according to media reports, have already been used against Russian territory.

What exactly Merz meant when he announced a change of course in German Ukraine policy on Monday is perhaps only known to the Chancellor himself. The upcoming visit of the Ukrainian President to Berlin could bring clarity ; according to a report in Der Spiegel, Volodymyr Selenskyj is expected on Wednesday .

Meanwhile, the Left Party is reminding the Chancellor of his own statement that public discussions about Taurus and the like should be a thing of the past. "Instead of constantly talking about arms deliveries," Merz should demonstrate how a path to ending the war could be achieved through diplomacy, what confidence-building measures Germany is prepared to take, what successor agreements to the CFE Treaty, the INF Treaty, and a revival of the Open Skies Treaty could look like, "and what diplomatic initiatives the federal government is prepared to take up again," says parliamentary group leader Sören Pellmann. (with dpa)