Germany has since WWII been reluctant to build up its military, and NATO allies have mostly relied on the United States for security.

Berlin is one of Kyiv's strongest allies as it fights Moscow's full-scale offensive for more than three years.

"Many were immediately reminded about the periods of the previous century, when Germany twice became the leading military power and how much trouble this brought," Lavrov said at a security conference in Moscow, where representatives from the US embassy participated for the first time since Russia's Ukraine offensive.

Merz had vowed to "provide all financial means necessary" for the long-underfunded defence forces of Europe's economic powerhouse.

Berlin has recently stationed a 5,000-strong armoured brigade in Lithuania, the first permanent deployment of German troops abroad since WWII in response to Russia's full-scale offensive on Ukraine in 2022.

The Kremlin has repeatedly used the memory of the Soviet Union's fight against Nazi Germany to whip up support for its military campaign in Ukraine.

The Soviet Union lost millions of civilians in WWII -- including Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Central Asians and other peoples.

Moscow had a working relationship with Germany prior to launching its 2022 Ukraine full-scale offensive.

But Berlin emerged as one of Kyiv's main backers since, a trend that Merz has vowed to continue.