Berlin irritated with Kyiv’s requests to transfer long-range Taurus missiles - Kuleba
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba receives “irritated
feedback from Berlin” every time Kyiv asks for the transfer of German
long-range Taurus missiles, he said in an interview with Politico published on
March 25.
“Listen, I’m tired of answering this. Sorry. You can quote
me, I don’t mind,” he said when asked about Germany’s position on supplying
Ukraine with Taurus missiles.
“Every time I answer the question, I get irritated feedback
from Berlin. Leave it to them. They put themselves in this situation. Let them
find a way out.”
Berlin is tying itself in knots over whether to supply
Taurus missiles.
Ukraine has requested long-range weaponry from its partners
to target objectives deep within Russia-occupied territory. While some
countries, such as the UK with Storm Shadow cruise missiles and France with
SCALP missiles, have already supplied such arms, Germany, possessing around 600
Taurus cruise missiles, has delayed action.
Berlin has not outright denied Ukraine the Taurus missiles
but has not been ready to provide them, possibly due to Scholz’s hesitations,
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in September 2023.
Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it will not use Western
long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.
The Bundestag has twice failed support a draft resolution
calling for the supply of long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine on Jan. 17,
with only 178 out of 666 MPs voting in favor.
On Feb. 22, the Bundestag voted to supply Ukraine with “long-range
weapons,” but did not mention the Taurus.
On Feb. 5, Christian Freuding, head of the Special Staff for
Ukraine at the German Ministry of Defense, said that long-range Taurus missiles
cannot turn the tide of war in favor of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on March 9 in
an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the country was ready to
consider all options, including an exchange in which Germany would provide
Britain with Taurus missiles and the United Kingdom, for its part, would supply
Ukraine with more Storm Shadow missiles.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she was
open to Cameron’s proposal for a circular exchange.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was, however,
skeptical of the idea of a circular exchange of British Storm Shadow missiles
for German Taurus missiles, and Scholz also rejected the idea.
Russians leaked a conversation in March among German top
generals discussing a potential Ukrainian strike with Taurus missiles on the
Crimean Bridge, illegally built by Russia. This became one of the most
discussed topics in Germany for some time.
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