Zelenskyy Bound for Berlin as Merz's Colleagues Call for Talks With Russia

German chancellor Friedrich Merz's drive to keep a campaign pledge of more robust backing for Ukraine is running into roadblocks within his own government as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin today.

- Deborah Cole

Merz announced on Monday, hours before Zelenskyy's one-day visit was announced, that Germany would for the first time lift previous range restrictions on weapons supplied to Kyiv, along with Ukraine's other main western supporters.

His statement in an interview with a public broadcaster that his team later posted to social media was widely considered to be a pivot toward Kyiv amid devastating aerial bombardment by Russia.

It drew immediate condemnation from Moscow and invited speculation it could be a prelude to Germany announcing it was sending long-requested Taurus missiles to Ukraine, potentially at the Zelenskyy talks.

However, yesterday, Merz, of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, appeared to finesse his message as he faced criticism from his coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats.

Far from being a groundbreaking new policy, Merz said, permission for Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russian territory using weapons supplied by western allies had been granted previously after an extensive debate.