Germany's Merz promises to help Ukraine produce long-range missiles

Friedrich Merz said earlier there were "no longer" any range restrictions on weapons supplied by Kyiv's Western allies.

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"We want to talk about production and we will not publicly discuss details," he said, when asked by reporters in Berlin if Germany would supply Kyiv with its Taurus missiles.

Merz took office earlier this month, promising to beef up German support for Ukraine, and said this week that there were "no longer" any range restrictions on weapons supplied by Kyiv's Western allies.

For weeks there has been speculation that Merz will allow the deployment of German-made Taurus missiles, which have a range of 500km (310 miles) and could reach deeper into Russian territory than other far-range weapons.

Merz did not refer to the Taurus during his press conference with the Ukrainian leader, and German newspaper Spiegel said later that the systems being developed by Ukraine were not as sophisticated as Taurus but had the advantage of being easier to operate.