Germany still undecided on long-range arms for Ukraine – FM — RT World News
For months, Berlin has been resisting calls to send Taurus missiles to Kiev, fearing that this would lead to escalation
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said German decision-makers were still discussing whether Berlin should supply Ukraine with long-range weapons such as Taurus missiles that Kiev has been demanding for months.
Speaking during a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba in Odessa on Saturday that coincided with the second anniversary of the start of the conflict, Burbuk acknowledged that the West had not delivered enough weapons to Kiev and said that Ukraine needed to. “More ammunition, more air defense, more artillery.”
“We've been racking our brains, especially over the past year, about the question of how we can deliver more, including long-range weapons systems.”She added, although she did not mention the Taurus missiles specifically.
The latter can be equipped with a 500-kilogram warhead and has a range of about 500 kilometers, meaning Ukraine could use it to hit targets as far away as Moscow.
In light of this, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously explained that handing over this type of weapon could further escalate the conflict.
Baerbock's comments came after the German parliament on Thursday rejected a proposal from the opposition CDU/CSU faction to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine. But on the same day, German lawmakers supported an initiative presented by the country's ruling coalition calling for providing aid to Kiev “Additional and necessary long-range weapons and ammunition systems.” But the Taurus missiles were not mentioned.
In January, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius indicated that delivering Taurus missiles to Kiev was out of the question at the present time, indicating that Berlin should “Monitoring its defensive capabilities” Which means he can't go “All in” For Ukraine.
Ukraine has already received long-range Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles from the United Kingdom and France, respectively. Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of using this type of weapon to target civilians.
Russia has consistently condemned Western arms shipments to Ukraine, warning that they will only prolong the conflict without changing its ultimate outcome. Moscow also said that by supplying weapons to Kiev, the West is becoming complicit in its war crimes.
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