German lawmaker pushes Scholz on long-range Taurus missile transfers to Ukraine

The Taurus should begin to be transferred to Ukraine immediately in order to complicate Russia's military logistics as much as possible, the MP said

Sergiy Berezhnyi

publicist

January 2, 16:37

Taurus rocket (Screenshot from the video)

Germany's commitment to support Ukraine as long as necessary will ring hollow if military aid to Ukraine is not significantly increased, said the head of the Bundestag defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, writes Deutsche Welle.

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After the New Year's Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, Strack-Zimmerman again called on the German government to approve the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

"Ukraine needs more ammunition, more equipment, and Taurus needs to be transferred immediately in order to complicate the logistics of the Russian army as much as possible," said the head of the Bundestag's defense committee.

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She believes that the commitment of the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to support Ukraine as much as necessary "will sound hollow" and will lose its meaning if military aid is not significantly increased.

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The same applies to the international coalition for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine,which should act "with much greater acceleration," the official stressed.

A member of the Defense Committee of the German Parliament, Sara Nanni, also believes that the supply of artillery shells, Taurus missiles and spare parts for German heavy equipment is now critically important for Ukraine.

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The opposition CDU/CSU bloc also intends to put forward a demand for the transfer of long-range missiles to Ukraine, writes the outlet with reference to AFP. The opposition will adopt a full list of demands at the congress in early January.

As DW points out, the Scholz coalition government refused to hand over Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, because together with them, Germany must provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with personnel to maintain missiles and geodata of targets on the territory of the Russian Federation, and this allegedly could render Germany a direct participant in Russia's war against Ukraine.

On November 6, 2023, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Taurus missiles "will not be a game changer" in Ukraine.

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REFERENCE The Taurus KEPD 350/150 is a subsonic long-range air-to-ground tactical cruise missile for precision strikes and engagement of highly protected and deepened targets without the missile carrier entering the enemy air defense zone. The basic KEPD-350 model has a tandem concrete-breaking warhead weighing 481 kg, the weight of the explosive is about 50 kg. Fueled mass – 1,360 kg, empty – 1,080 kg. The maximum flight range is at least 500 km. The missile is designed and manufactured by Taurus Systems, a joint venture between MBDA Deutschland and Sweden's Saab Bofors Dynamics. The cost of one unit, according to the media, is about €1 million. Germany has at least 500 missiles in service, Spain has several dozen. There are several Taurus variants, including the lightweight KEPD-150.

Despite Western media reports of Ukraine's "slow" counteroffensive against overwhelming Russian air superiority and extensive minefields, Germany declined Ukrainian requests for Taurus cruise missiles.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the reason for refusing to hand over Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine is "constitutional restrictions and the risk of war escalation".

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv will turn a blind eye to Germany's refusal to provide Taurus missiles if Ukraine receives air defense systems.