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Germany’s new Prime Minister (R) welcomed Ukraine’s Voldy Mie Zelensky to Berlin on Wednesday
Germany’s new prime minister, Friedrich Merz, told Ukraine’s Voldimir Zelensky that Berlin would help Kiev produce long-range missiles to protect himself from Russian attacks.
“We want to talk about production, but we won’t discuss the details publicly,” he said. A Berlin reporter said he was asked if Germany would supply Taurus missiles to Kiev.
Merz took office earlier this month, pledging to strengthen German support for Ukraine, and this week said there was “no longer a range limit” on weapons supplied by Kiev’s western allies.
Taurus has a 500km (310 miles) range and can reach Russian territory more deeply than other expanded missiles.
Meltz did not mention Taurus by name during a press conference with Ukrainian leaders, but he said a “memorandum of understanding” on long-range missiles would be signed later Wednesday by German and Ukrainian defense ministers.
The Kremlin warns that the decision to end limits on the range of missiles that Ukraine can use will be a very dangerous change in policies that will harm efforts to reach political deals.
But Merz then emphasizes that a decision was taken by Western allies several months ago regarding lifting limits on range.
Zelensky called for consultations aimed at reaching a war reconciliation to involve three leaders (Trump -Putin -Me), but he added that any form is ready.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not dismiss the idea uncontrollably, but said such meetings will only take place after a “specific agreement” has been reached between the “two delegations.”
Ukraine and Russia held their first in-person meetings this month for over three years, but the meeting involved low-level officials and only agreed to the prisoner exchange that took place last weekend.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday suggested that the date of further talks will be announced in the “very near future,” but revealed that Moscow is trying to ensure Ukraine’s “neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear state.”
President Donald Trump showed this week that his patience has faded as Russia failed to move forward in further talks.
He accused Vladimir Putin of “playing with fire” after a fatal Russian missile strike that killed 13 Ukrainians, including children. However, Russian officials have suggested that Trump is not fully informed of the context of the conflict.
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Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelensky accused Moscow of delaying the peace process
The Ukrainian president urged Washington to impose sanctions on Russian banks and energy sector. He discussed the issue with Trump, adding that the US president “confirmed that if Russia does not stop, sanctions will be imposed.”
Despite continuing diplomatic operations, Ukrainian forces reported one of the largest drone barrages against Russian targets through Wednesday, but Zelensky said Russia had fired more than 900 drones in the three days that ended early Monday morning.
On the ground, Ukrainian defense is exposed to an increase in Russian attacks in the northeast.
Zelensky said Moscow is “accumulating” more than 50,000 troops along the Smie front where Russian troops seized several villages across the Ukrainian border to create what Putin calls the “security buffer zone.”
Gov. Smie Ole Hlikorov said Russian troops seized four villages and the fight continues near other settlements in the area.
The war is now in its fourth year, claiming tens of thousands of lives, leaving most of the east and south of Ukraine in abandoned. Moscow manages about a fifth of the country’s territory, including Crimea, which annexed in 2014.
Zelensky accused Moscow of delaying the peace process and said it has yet to provide the promised memorandum following talks in Istanbul. Peskov claimed that the document was in the “final stage.”
