Russia said that remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about long-range Ukrainian strikes into Russia with European weapons suggested that a decision allowing such attacks had been made long ago but kept secret.

Merz said there were no longer any range restrictions on the weapons supplied to Ukraine by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, and that Ukraine could now do "long range fire".

But Merz's remarks were unclear as he also said that Ukraine had been unable to do that until some time ago.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the remarks indicated the calibre of people who had risen to power in leading European countries.
"He (Merz) said yesterday with such pretentiousness that from now on and forever there are no restrictions on the range of strikes,"