Germany's opposition urges Sunak to pressure Scholz into Taurus missiles transfer to Ukraine
German opposition parties urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to persuade German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, n-tv reported.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) were among the parties that reached out to Sunak.
The German opposition believes that after the U.S. Senate passed its Ukraine aid bill that provides Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles, the German government can be convinced to do the same.
"The American aid package directly calls on U.S. President Joe Biden to provide Ukraine with ATACMS,” CDU Defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter said.
“Sunak must therefore step up the pressure on Scholz to finally hand over the Taurus missiles.”
The issue of weapons provision for Ukraine is a matter of crucial importance in 2024, he said.
Sunak will meet with Scholz on April 24.
Read also: Germany’s long-range Taurus missiles are a potent weapon that could make Ukrainian lives easier
The issue of supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine
Ukraine is asking its partners for long-range weapons to be able to strike targets deep inside Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territory.
Some countries have already taken this step: the UK and France have transferred Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
Germany, which has about 600 Taurus cruise missiles, has demurred.
Berlin is not refusing to provide Taurus to Ukraine, but isn’t ready to do so at the moment, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in September 2023.
The reason could be the wavering of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has expressed concerns that Kyiv could use the weapons to attack Russian territory. He is also concerned that the move could lead to an “escalation” of the war.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that it will not use Western long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.
The German parliament twice failed to support a call to transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Only 178 out of 666 deputies voted in favor of the idea on Jan. 17.
The German parliament voted to supply Ukraine with "long-range weapons" on Feb. 22 but did not specifically mention Taurus missiles.
Long-range Taurus missiles would not tip the war in favor of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the head of the special task force on Ukraine at the German Defense Ministry, Christian Freudig, stated on Feb. 5.
Scholz is not afraid of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, said on March 29 regarding the issue of providing Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
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