Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU and the leading candidate for German chancellor, has announced his intention to change Berlin’s policy on supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range Taurus missiles after the election.
Friedrich Merz stated this while answering questions at the Munich Security Conference. He assured that he would not abandon the policy he declared last year, even before the start of the early election campaign.
“My position and the position of my faction have always been clear,” he said, emphasizing that he was ready to supply not only missiles. “My personal position is to increase the supply of European weapons to Ukraine,” Merz added.
However, he emphasized that negotiations between donors to the Ukrainian Armed Forces are required before the start of the supply. It is significant that he excluded the United States from these consultations.
“We must be ready to supply, but only if we agree with our European partners, and here I am talking about the UK and France (which also have long-range missiles) in terms of the division of roles,” the potential future German chancellor said.
Earlier, Friedrich Merz and current Chancellor Scholz confirmed that they have different views on the supply of Taurus to Ukraine. Until now, Scholz has been opposed to sending long-range missiles to Ukraine to help the country fight Russian invaders.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is counting on Merz’s help—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that “something will change” in Germany’s new policy regarding Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Davos that he would like to see the new government’s policy on Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the supply of long-range weapons change after the German elections.
“We wanted to get Taurus missiles. But it’s the same with NATO. This is the policy of the German leadership; they were against it. I don’t know if the new policy will change these two directions… In any case, we will work on it,” Zelenskyy said.
Early elections in Germany are scheduled for February 23. According to opinion polls, the CDU/CSU opposition alliance with Friedrich Merz at the helm has the greatest chance of winning.
The CDU/CSU has included support for Ukraine and the promise of expanding sanctions against Russia in its election program.
At a meeting with Merz in December, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine expects Germany to “strengthen Ukraine’s long-range capabilities.”
