Ukraine LIVE: Kremlin fumes as UK 'lifts restrictions' in major coup for Kyiv

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The Kremlin has branded Merz's announcement 'dangerous' (Image: Getty)

Russia has slammed Germany's new Chancellor after he said the UK, US, France and his own government had agreed to lifting restrictions previously imposed on Ukraine when using weapons they provided. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Alexander Yunashev: “If these decisions have indeed been made, they are completely at odds with our aspirations for a political [peace] settlement... These are quite dangerous decisions, if they have been made”.

Friedrich Merz, who replaced Olaf Scholz as Germany's leader earlier this year, claimed in a TV interview on Monday that the restrictions Western allies of Ukraine had so far imposed on Kyiv when using weapons they provided, including not firing against targets inside of Russia in a bid to prevent further escalation, were no longer in place. He said: "We will do everything in our power to continue supporting Ukraine, including militarily. There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans." Neither Britain nor Washington or Paris, have publicly addressed the claim made by Mr Merz.