War in Ukraine: Europe lifts arms restrictions
The European Union has announced, through German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, that it will lift restrictions on arms deliveries to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia for the first time since the conflict began in February 2022.
- ‘There will be no more restrictions’
- Moscow warns of consequences
- ‘Europe will get a response’
- Leo XIV offers himself as mediator
The decision has been supported by all European allies and indirectly by Washington, and will enable Ukraine to attack targets on Russian territory up to 500 kilometres away, depending on the weapons ultimately delivered to the Ukrainian army, which Europe does not wish to disclose so as not to provide sensitive information to Russian intelligence services. Until now, Germany had not delivered weapons with a range of more than 70 kilometres.
‘There will be no more restrictions’
‘Ukraine can now defend itself by attacking military installations on Russian territory with missiles. There are no longer any range limits on the weapons to be delivered to Ukraine. Neither by the Germans, nor by the British, nor by the French, nor by the Americans,’ said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In contrast, the Kremlin has announced that this measure ‘undermines the chances of a ceasefire and possible truce’ and described it as ‘dangerous.’
Merz clarified that, so far, all decisions made by NATO members have been taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin as ‘signs of weakness.’
Since the beginning of the conflict, Russia has insisted that Ukraine's use of NATO weapons against Russian territory would escalate the conflict. These warnings had been ‘respected’ by NATO members until now. However, Russia has not stopped attacking Ukrainian territory with weapons from its allies, especially with Iranian Shahed drones and North Korean military support.
Moscow warns of consequences
Although Russia has warned of the danger of this uprising, Europe and the United States hope that the main consequence of this measure will be an increase in dialogue between Russia and Ukraine through a mediating country.
The internal political consequences of the current German chancellor's decision reflect the country's political shift away from the less aggressive policies of former leader Olaf Scholz. The internal division within the European giant revolves around the ‘red lines’ that Germany will have to cross after announcing that ‘there will be no more arms restrictions on Ukraine’.
Above all, German society, and therefore European society, will have to accept a change in discourse, as sending more and better weapons to Ukraine conflicts with the possibility of de-escalating the conflict.
‘Europe will get a response’
Meanwhile, the Kremlin, through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has described these measures as dangerous and announced that ‘they will not stand idly by’. If Europe moves forward with lifting the restrictions, it will ‘get a response’ and a ‘tougher stance in the negotiations.’
The first impact of the spokesman's words was the biggest drone attack on Kiev since the war began. ‘If these decisions were really made, they are absolutely contrary to our aspirations to reach a political agreement... it is a rather dangerous decision,’ Peskov said.
Leo XIV offers himself as mediator
In view of this escalating situation, the newly appointed Pope, Leo XIV, offered the Holy See as the next meeting point for high-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine. This announcement was supported by several European capitals, Kiev and Washington. Russia, however, said that ‘the Vatican is not the right place for these talks to take place’.
For the German chancellor, these statements from the Kremlin suggest that the war will not end soon. ‘If Putin does not even agree to the meeting in the Vatican, it means that we must be more prepared than ever for the war to continue for much longer,’ Merz said.