Free Republic

As America seeks to dial back its military presence in Europe and war continues in Ukraine, European nations are dusting off their war machines and training for battle. By all indications, no matter what happens between Russia and Ukraine, tensions on the historically war-fraught Continent will almost certainly not return to pre-2022 levels.On Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced a new, chummier military partnership between his nation and Ukraine. He said Germany will continue to provide military support, and promised to dole out 5 billion euros in military aid. Merz also said the Germans will supply Ukraine with long-range weapons...

The German chancellor’s drive to keep a campaign pledge of more robust backing for Ukraine is running into blocks within his own government as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin.Friedrich Merz made a full-throated declaration on Monday, hours before Zelenskyy’s one-day visit was announced, that Germany was for the first time lifting previous range restrictions on weapons supplied to Kyiv, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters.His statement – in an interview with a public broadcaster, which his team later posted to social media – was widely interpreted as a pivot toward bolstering Berlin’s aid to Kyiv at...