Kremlin Says Enhanced Missile Range for Ukraine Would Be Dangerous

 A view of residential houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
A view of residential houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
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Kremlin Says Enhanced Missile Range for Ukraine Would Be Dangerous

 A view of residential houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)
A view of residential houses destroyed by a Russian strike in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said any decision by European countries that might give Ukraine enhanced long-range missile capabilities would be a dangerous move, Kremlin correspondent Alexander Yunashev reported.

Peskov's comments came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had spoken about the absence of range restrictions for weapons delivered to Ukraine, which one German government official said did not represent a change in policy.

"These potential decisions, if such decisions have indeed been made, run absolutely contrary to our aspirations for reaching a political settlement," Peskov said.

He said such decisions, if there were any, were quite dangerous.

Merz on Monday said his government would do everything possible to keep supporting Ukraine militarily, pointing out that the lack of range restrictions meant Ukraine could attack military targets in Russia.

"Ukraine wasn't able to do that until some time ago," Merz said at the WDR European Forum. "With very few exceptions, it did not do so until recently."

Washington allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, Reuters reported in November, in a significant reversal of US policy in Joe Biden's final months in office.

France and Germany's leaders said in May 2024 that Ukraine should be allowed to hit military sites inside Russia from which missiles were being fired at Ukrainian territory, but not other targets.

A German government official told Reuters: "This isn't new, this government never had a range limit."

The German parliament elected Merz as chancellor on May 6.

On Monday, Merz would not say whether his comments meant that Germany would deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, something Merz had demanded when he was opposition leader to Olaf Scholz's administration.

The German government no longer discloses which weapon systems it delivers to Ukraine.

Several sources told Reuters on Monday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was expected to visit Berlin on Wednesday.



Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
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Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)

A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists left the Greek island of Syros Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, after more than 150 protesters demonstrated at the island’s port, unfurling Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Carrying banners that read: “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip — the protesters chanted slogans on the dock near where the cruise ship, the Crown Iris, was docked on Tuesday, local media said. There were no reports of any violence.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

Greece’s coast guard said the ship set sail at around 3 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, but did not immediately have any further details.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release. “All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed. It did not release any details of their discussion.