Reuters
KYIV (Reuters) -Friedrich Merz, frontrunner in the race to become Germany's next chancellor, used an election-time visit to Kyiv to condemn his country's policy on arming Ukraine as akin to making the country fight with one arm tied behind its back. Merz, leader of the opposition conservatives, is a critic of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's refusal to follow Britain, France and the United States in sending Kyiv longer-range weapons capable of striking deep inside Russian territory. Merz's centre-right party alliance is the clear favourite to unseat the Social Democrat, Scholz, in Germany's Feb. 23 vote, enjoying a lead of more than 10 percentage points in most polls.