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Politico (28 May 2025)

James Angelos and Nette Nöstlinger

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wanted to use Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Berlin on Wednesday to project resolve in the face of Russia’s escalating war on Ukraine.

Instead, the chancellor is under fire from within his own ranks over unclear statements he made this week on whether Germany is prepared to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory. The previous left-leaning government rejected making that move so as not to provoke nuclear-armed Moscow.

Ahead of Zelenskyy’s visit, Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior conservative parliamentarian belonging to Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), sharply criticized the chancellor for making “contradictory statements” on the matter.

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