Politico learned about Merz's criticism by allies amid statements about weapons for Ukraine

Allies of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized him after statements about weapons for Ukraine. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on May 28, citing sources.

"The Chancellor is being criticized in his ranks because of unclear statements <...> about whether Germany is ready to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles that can strike deep into Russian territory," the article says.

It is clarified that the confusion surrounding Berlin's readiness to provide Kiev with Taurus cruise missiles threatens to overshadow the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to the country, which is expected on Wednesday, May 28.

Merz announced the lifting of restrictions on strikes with Western weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What does this mean?

On May 26, Merz announced that Britain, France, Germany and the United States had lifted range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine. He noted that this decision is aimed at giving it the opportunity to attack targets in Russia. The next day, the Chancellor said that he had talked about the decisions taken a few months ago.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, called the decision to lift restrictions on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine an escalation. According to him, this intensification of the crisis in the most serious way contradicts all attempts at a peaceful settlement of the conflict that are currently being undertaken.