German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their range and targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will leave Berlin with a new €5 billion ($5.7bn) arms package as he seeks to build his country’s arsenal, and its ability to produce weapons at home.

Germany has given Ukraine the green light to strike targets inside Russia using long-range weapons supplied by Berlin, in a decision that signals a notable hardening of Western resolve as the war grinds on.