“Behind this entire verbal smokescreen lies the poorly disguised desire of the Merz government to also take part in strikes deep within our country,” said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, according to the state news agency TASS.

Zakharova was referring to statements by Merz regarding the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, which has been fighting off a Russian invasion for more than three years.

She added on Wednesday that Berlin was not considering the fact that the use of Taurus missiles against targets inside Russia would represent Germany’s entry into a conflict with Moscow.

The chancellor appeared last week on a talk show where he reiterated that it would not be German soldiers but Ukrainian soldiers operating the weapons system.

Unlike his predecessor Olaf Scholz, Merz has repeatedly indicated in the past that he is open to delivering Taurus to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Merz told the Germany parliament that “the means of diplomacy have been exhausted” with regards to Russia ending the Ukraine war.

-dpa