West to lift limits on Ukraine’s use of missiles in Russia

The end of strike limitations gives Ukraine the ability to target launch sites up to 320km inside Russia including, potentially, Moscow.

Firefighters operating on burning houses following a Russian strike in Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

Ukraine’s western allies have agreed to lift all remaining range restrictions on the use of their weapons after President Trump issued his strongest criticism of President Putin yet.

In the wake of the heaviest drone strikes on Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Friedrich Merz, Germany’s conservative leader, said Ukraine would be able to defend itself with “long-range fire”, while President Macron called for “massive retaliation” against Russian aggression “in particular in terms of sanctions”.

The end of strike limitations gives Ukraine the ability to target launch sites up to 320km inside Russia.

The move was announced by Merz and not immediately confirmed by the White House but came soon after President Trump posted that President Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” and was “needlessly killing a lot of people”.

After a week of intense Russian bombardment, Trump said in Washington: “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin.

“I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”

The Russian campaign of drone and missile strikes has dashed hopes of a breakthrough in peace talks and renewed calls for tougher action against Moscow.

The Kremlin played down Trump’s “emotional reactions”. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said: “This is a very critical moment, which is fraught with emotional stress for everyone.”

Russia launched more than 350 drones at Ukraine and nine cruise missiles. Picture; AFP.

Trump has previously shied away from direct measures against Russia and maintained a sense of optimism that Putin wants peace. But his rhetoric became sharper on Sunday when he warned that continuing to try to seize all of Ukraine “will lead to the downfall of Russia!”, although he did not specify how.

In Germany, Merz told an event held by the WDR public broadcaster: “There are no longer any range limits on the weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine: not from the Britons, nor from the French, nor from us, and not from the Americans either.

“This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia … with very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until recently. It can now do that.”

Before becoming chancellor, Merz said he favoured providing Kyiv with Germany’s Taurus missiles – which have a range of more than 300 miles – although he previously said that if it decided to send Taurus missiles, it would not be announced publicly.

The use of the German missiles could theoretically allow Ukraine to strike Moscow and easily target military airfields closer to the Russian capital, including one near the city of Voronezh that has been used for attacks on Ukraine.

Some read the statement as an indication of intent. Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of US Army Europe, told Times Radio: “If [Ukraine is] able now to use Storm Shadow [missiles] … and presumably Taurus against Russian airfields, this is a good thing.”

President Biden gave Kyiv limited permission in November to use long-range guided missiles, known as Atacms, against positions in the Kursk region in Russia where Ukraine was struggling to hold territorial gains. Ukraine is believed to have received fewer than 50 Atacms, which can hit targets 300km away.

Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with an unconfirmed number of Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of about 240km, but there has been a degree of confusion over whether they can be used against military targets inside Russia.

Merz will host President Zelensky in Berlin tomorrow (Wednesday) to outline plans for a new EU sanctions package against Moscow.

Asked how he would respond, Trump said that he was “absolutely” considering tougher sanctions on Moscow. “We’ll see what we’re going to do … something happened to this guy and I don’t like it.”

After his phone call with Putin last week, Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire”. Putin has made no commitment to halt his three-year invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the Kremlin has offered only a vague proposal to work on a “memorandum” outlining Moscow’s demands for peace.

A bipartisan bill in Congress that would impose sanctions designed to devastate the Russian economy has not moved for weeks as Republicans wait for a nod from the White House.

The bill is co-sponsored by Lindsey Graham, an ally of Trump who has said the sanctions would do “bone-crushing” damage to Russia. The senator met European foreign ministers to brief them on the measures this month and said last week the bill had the support of 81 senators in the 100-seat chamber.

The Times