BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said Europe was prepared to fight if necessary for its core values of freedom and democracy, in an explicit riposte to the Trump administration's repeated criticisms of the European Union.

Speculation is rising after Ukrainian President Zelensky met German Chancellor Merz to discuss acquiring German-made Taurus missiles—highly lethal, long-range weapons capable of striking deep into Russia.

Germany and Ukraine are aiming to jointly produce long-range weapons, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin on Wednesday after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Merz said the German and Ukrainian defence ministers are to sign a letter of intent on the "procurement of long-range weapons systems from Ukrainian production.

Russia said on Tuesday that remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about long-range Ukrainian strikes into Russia with European weapons suggested that a decision allowing such attacks had been made long ago but kept secret.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the first time publicly advocated spending up to 5% of the German economy on defense.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to become chancellor in a major blow.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised to do everything possible to prevent the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from starting up. Germany will continue to put pressure on Russia to block the launch of the project,

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.