Germany has agreed ​with the U.S. government to acquire ‌Tomahawk cruise missiles and station them on German territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told lawmakers in Berlin ​on Thursday.

Merz said that he had met ​with Washington on the sidelines of the ⁠NATO summit in Ankara to seal ​the deal, adding that the summit had ​exceeded all of his expectations.

"In doing so, we are closing a critical strategic gap in our ​defence, while simultaneously working to develop ​our own European systems and station them in Europe," ‌he ⁠said.

The fate of the Tomahawks had been unclear after President Donald Trump announced in May that he would reduce U.S. military presence ​in Germany, ​which had ⁠been seen as a cancellation of a plan under the ​previous administration to deploy a U.S. ​battalion ⁠with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany.

Berlin has pushed for the move as a ⁠powerful ​deterrent against Russia while Europeans ​develop such weapons of their own.