The debate over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to kyiv is intensifying in Germany, with several politicians urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to give his approval in the face of Russia’s massive bombing of Ukraine since the beginning of the year.
“The delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine has been necessary for a long time,” said Sara Nanni, spokesperson for the parliamentary group of the Greens, party of the government coalition of social democrat Olaf Scholz, on Saturday.
“The most effective protection against Russian airstrikes is to attack targets on Russian territory and in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, from where Russia launches its attacks,” he stated in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper.
So far, however, Ukraine does not have the means to do so, among other things because Berlin refuses to supply the missiles that kyiv has been demanding for months.
Promising to help Ukraine as long as necessary “seems cynical when Europe” is giving it “enough so that it does not lose, but not enough to liberate all its territory,” criticized MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the liberals of the FDP, also allies of the Government, which has been asking for Taurus to be sent to Ukraine for several months.
Calls to this effect have increased in recent days in Germany, both from members of these two parties and from the conservative opposition, while Moscow has intensified its deadly bombing of several Ukrainian cities, including the capital, kyiv.
The Taurus is one of the most modern missiles of the German air forces. These weapons are capable of finding their target even at high altitudes and at great distances, and can destroy bunkers, for example.
In early October, he decided not to hand them over for the time being. The reason for this decision was the fear that Russian territory would also be reached by these precision weapons with a range of 500 kilometers.
His spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, questioned on Wednesday, indicated that the government’s position had not changed. “We are observing the situation and acting accordingly,” he declared at a regular press conference.
