Ukraine and Germany have agreed to future military cooperation in which Berlin will help finance long-range weapons production on Ukrainian soil.
The deal came as Zelenskyy warned that Russia had amassed 50,000 troops in the Sumy region bordering Russia, where Vladimir Putin has declared an intention to establish a buffer zone.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said the weapons would be produced in a Kyiv-Berlin collaboration. “Our defence ministers will sign a memorandum of understanding today regarding the procurement of Ukrainian-manufactured long-range weapons systems,” Merz told a press conference.
“There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend itself, even against military targets outside its own territory.”
The pact was forged as Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin in search of more support after Russian attacks intensified, and amid evidence that Moscow was planning a broad summer offensive. It was his third visit to the German capital since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and his first since Merz entered office.
Merz avoided commenting on speculation as to whether Germany would deploy Taurus missiles, which was prompted by his pronouncement that range restrictions were no longer in place, enabling Kyiv to strike Russian military targets over the border.
Neither leader would detail the specific weapons that would be manufactured in Ukraine, saying it was prudent to keep the information as secretive as possible.
Zelenskyy said he expected the first weapons to be ready by June 2026.
The expectation is that Berlin will supply Ukraine with the technical components to build and maintain its own long-range weaponry, including rockets and cruise missiles, with a range of up to 2,500km. This could enable Kyiv to better defend itself, and also save Berlin from accusations – at home in particular – that it is a war monger, helping to placate sceptics within elements of Merz’s government who fear Germany being dragged into a wider-scale conflict.
The two leaders said they believed all the stops had been pulled out to solve the conflict through diplomatic means, repeatedly emphasising their conviction that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was not interested in ending the bloodshed. But they said they would continue to pursue a negotiated peace, referring to possible talks in Geneva.
Germany has long supported Kyiv and is the second-biggest deliverer of weapons after the US, but relations between Zelenskyy and Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, often felt decidedly cool, and Kyiv was evidently repeatedly frustrated by the speed of Berlin’s decisions.
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