German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Monday that Germany, along with France, the UK and the US, had lifted restrictions on the range of weapons being sent to Ukraine to help in the fight against Russia.

"There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine — neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans," he said at the WDR Europaforum 2025 at the re:publica digital conference in Berlin.

"This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia... With very few exceptions, it didn't do that until recently. It can now do that," Merz explained.

The chancellor also reiterated his position in a post on X, adding, "We will do everything in our power to continue supporting Ukraine."

Merz did not specify which country, including his own, had decided on any changes at which stage.

Russia calls weapons decision a 'dangerous' move

The Kremlin responded to Merz's statement, saying that lifting range limits on arms delivered to Ukraine by the West would be "dangerous."

"If these decisions have indeed been made, they are completely at odds with our aspirations for a political [peace] settlement... These are quite dangerous decisions, if they have been made," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Alexander Yunashev.

Russia has long criticized Western countries for supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons. The Kremlin has also warned Germany against providing Kyiv with the Taurus missile system.

Western long-range weapons in Ukraine

At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the West did not supply Ukraine with any far-reaching weapons to prevent the conflict from escalating.

However, the UK and France have since supplied Kyiv with Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles, which have a range of about 250 kilometers (150 miles).

In November 2024, former US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against targets in Russia.

Also in November, Ukraine fired UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time after receiving approval from London, according to British media reports. At the time, France also reiterated that strikes on military targets inside Russia were an option.

Merz made no mention of Taurus

The previous German government, led by center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz, strongly supported Kyiv, yet refrained from sending long-range Taurus missiles with their range of 500 kilometers for fear of escalating tensions with nuclear power Russia.

Merz has previously expressed support for delivering the Taurus missile system. However, on Monday, he did not clarify if Germany would do so or if he was referring to other weapons systems.

The new government has emphasized that it will no longer disclose what weapons it is sending to Ukraine, instead adopting a position of strategic ambiguity.

Russia has warned that it would consider potential Ukrainian strikes on transport infrastructure with German-made Taurus missiles to be "direct participation" by Berlin in the conflict.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez