German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on July 17 that Ukraine will soon receive long-range systems from Berlin, including both direct aid and production assistance.
Speaking at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr. Merz affirmed that the scale of support for Ukraine in the direction of improving self-production capacity in the defense sector will be "more" large, revealing that this process is expected to take place "in the coming weeks and months".
The German Chancellor also expressed hope that the Trump administration and the US Congress will soon make clearer decisions in supporting Ukraine.
The German leader added that he is keeping in close contact with some senators in the US Congress to promote this.
"We really hope this will then lead to a proper decision from the US government," Merz said.
Earlier, on May 28, Mr. Merz affirmed that the types of long-range weapons that Germany supports Ukraine in production will not be limited in range and that Kiev can use them to attack targets outside its territory.
In mid-June, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius revealed that the types of long-range weapons expected to be mass-produced include not only cruise missiles but also unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
As of July 12, the head of the coordination team to provide aid to Ukraine at the German Defense Ministry, Major General Christian Freuding, said that Kiev could receive the first long-range systems under the German-Ukrainian project by the end of July.
Moscow, for its part, condemned Mr Merz's initiative, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Germany was competing with France to incite conflict.
Mr. Peskov warned that allowing Ukraine to use uncontrolled long-range weapons could lead to a "serious escalation" in the conflict and "seriously undermine peace efforts".
According to Peskov, Kiev does not have the ability to locate targets to carry out long-range attacks independently, and stressed that supporting these attacks would make the West, including Germany, become a direct combat side.
