Britain and France have delivered cruise missiles to Ukraine. Germany and the USA are hesitant. According to media reports, the federal government will not make a decision quickly.
For months, Ukraine has been demanding that Germany supply Taurus cruise missiles in order to be able to attack Russian positions far behind the front line. According to a report by “Bild” and the ARD capital studio, it is now clear that the federal government will not fulfill the wishes of the country attacked by Russia for the time being. However, there was initially no confirmation of this on Wednesday evening. “There is no new status to report on the question of Taurus cruise missiles,” said a government spokeswoman when asked by the German Press Agency.
In plain language this means: There is no further formal decision. The federal government has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that the decision will not be taken lightly and that the issue will continue to be discussed with the alliance partners.
No formal rejection of Kiev
“Bild” also reported that Germany has not yet formally rejected the government in Kiev’s request for the missiles with a range of 500 kilometers. However, it has been made clear internally that the Taurus rockets are not currently being delivered. So Scholz is keeping his options open for the future.
The Chancellor has recently repeatedly stated publicly that Germany currently wants to concentrate on the delivery of air defense systems. His skeptical attitude towards cruise missiles has long been known. The reason behind this is that these weapons can also be used to fire well into Russian territory.
The British and French can do something “we are not allowed to do”
Great Britain and France nevertheless delivered cruise missiles of the virtually identical types “Storm Shadow” and “Scalp”. According to “Bild”, Scholz said at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee last week that these two countries “can do something that we are not allowed to do,” and added: “That doesn’t raise the question.” What this means is that Great Britain and France supplied the geodata for missile targets themselves, Great Britain also had its own personnel on site in Ukraine. This is out of the question for the federal government.
In addition, according to the report, German government representatives have expressed concern that Taurus cruise missiles could hit the Kerch Bridge between the Russian mainland and the Russian-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
CDU politician: Germany’s total failure as a leading nation
The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter reiterated his call for the Taurus missiles to be delivered to Ukraine on Wednesday: “By canceling the Taurus delivery, Scholz confirms the total failure of Germany as the self-proclaimed leading nation for European security and puts our partners such as Great Britain and France ahead of them head who are already delivering cruise missiles,” he told “Bild”.
Source: Stern
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