Germany is very openly stepping up its support to Ukraine, following a weekend of serious escalation in airstrikes on Kiev by Russia, which says this has been retaliation for hundreds of drones on its territory.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will travel to visit Berlin on Wednesday in his first time there since Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office earlier this month. It was only on Monday that Merz announced that Germany, France, the UK and US have lifted prior restrictions on how far the weapons they supply to Ukraine can reach. But Washington has not given public confirmation of this.
Just ahead of hosting Zelensky, Merz has warned that the Western allies must settle in for a long war yet to come, at a moment US-backed peace efforts appear to be faltering. Leading European hawks have criticized President Trump’s push for peace all along.
