Germany’s Merz offers to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missiles to hit Russia

BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged Wednesday to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets as the Kyiv government fights to repel Russia’s invasion.

Some of the advanced weapon systems that Kyiv’s allies supplied to Ukraine during the three-year-old war were subject to range and target restrictions — a fraught political issue stemming from fears that if the weapons struck deep inside Russia, the Kremlin might retaliate against the country that provided them and draw NATO into Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Standing beside visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merz said that under an intensified cooperation agreement, Germany “will strive to equip the Ukrainian army with all the capabilities that truly enable it to successfully defend the country,” including upgraded domestic missile production.

After the United States, Germany has been the biggest individual supplier of military aid to Ukraine.

“Ukraine will be able to fully defend itself, including against military targets outside its own territory” with its own missiles, Merz said at a joint news conference.

Hours after Merz’s pledge, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov publicly invited Ukraine to hold direct peace talks with Moscow in Istanbul on June 2.

In a video statement, he said that Russia would use the meeting to deliver a memorandum setting out Moscow’s position on “reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis”. He also said that any Russian delegation would again be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

Germany doesn’t mention its Taurus cruise missiles

Merz declined to say whether Germany will supply its advanced Taurus long-range cruise missile to Ukraine — long a request by Kyiv and a step that Berlin has resisted.

Asked about Germany’s offer to fund long-range missile production in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that the move was an obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.

Both Merz and Zelensky criticized the Kremlin’s effective rejection of an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the U.S., which Kyiv accepted. Kyiv says Moscow has been slow to respond to proposals for a settlement.

Merz said last Monday that Germany and other major allies were no longer imposing range limits on weapons they send to Ukraine, although he indicated their use was limited to Russian military targets. Ukraine has launched its own long-range drones at sites that support Russia’s military efforts, including refineries and chemical plants.

Then-President Biden last year authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles for limited strikes in Russia. The decision allowed Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System against Russia.

In Berlin, Zelensky called for deeper defense cooperation across Europe and with Washington, stressing the need for long-range capabilities and sustained military funding to ensure Ukraine’s resilience.

“We need sufficient long-range capabilities. That’s why we must be certain of the financing of our army and the stability of Ukraine,” he said.

He said the cooperation projects already exist. “We simply want [the missiles] to be produced in the quantity we need,” Zelensky told reporters.

Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump.

“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelensky said he would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Russia is grateful to Trump for his mediation efforts.

“At the same time, there is a big number of nuances to be discussed that can’t be neglected and which neither party is going to sacrifice, because of its national interests,” Peskov told reporters. “Just like the United States, Russia has its national interests that are of primary importance to us.”

Front-line fighting, deep strikes continue

Meanwhile, fighting has continued along the roughly 620-mile front line, where Ukraine’s army is shorthanded against its bigger adversary. Zelensky claimed Tuesday that Russia is mobilizing up to 45,000 men every month, while Ukraine mobilizes between 25,000-27,000.

Both sides are continuing to conduct deep strikes. Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war against Ukraine on Sunday.

Russian air defenses downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, in what appeared to be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone assaults of the war.

Ukraine is increasing its domestic production of drones and missiles, according to Zelensky. He said late Tuesday that Ukraine wants European countries to help it invest in the manufacture of attack drones, air defense interceptors, cruise missiles and ballistic systems.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses shot down Ukrainian 33 drones heading toward the capital.

Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said 42 drones were downed. He said that drone fragments damaged three residential buildings in the village of Troitskoye, but no one was hurt.

More than 60 flights were canceled Wednesday in Moscow as the capital’s airports were forced to ground planes amid drone warnings, said the federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya.

Overnight, Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine using five Iskander ballistic missiles, one guided air-launched missile and 88 drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defense units shot down 34 drones, and 37 drones were jammed.

Dazio and Hatton write for the Associated Press. Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. The AP’s Hanna Arhirova and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Philipp Jenne in Vienna contributed to this story.