Germany holds firm: No long-range missiles for Ukraine
The deputy spokesperson for the German government, Wolfgang Buechner, confirmed that Chancellor Olaf Scholz maintains his previous decision to refuse the supply of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. The recent decisions by the American administration regarding the situation on the front do not change this context.
Reuters, based on information from several trusted sources, reported that President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Ukraine to use American weapons to carry out attacks on targets deep within Russia.
Germany denies Ukraine
"Yes, the federal government was informed about this, and it has no impact on the federal chancellor's decision not to provide Taurus missiles," stated Wolfgang Buechner as quoted by the dpa agency.
The Taurus missiles are approximately 5 metres long and weigh about 1,400 kilograms, with approximately 500 kilograms attributed to the MEPHISTO warhead (Multi-Effect Penetrator, Highly Sophisticated and Target Optimised). This warhead has a large impact force and a very interesting design. It can be detonated like a classic high-explosive fragmentation shell or with a delay after penetrating a user-specified number of obstacles. This allows for the effective elimination of underground enemy positions, such as bunkers.
Ukrainians' long-range weapons
A spokesperson for the German Ministry of Defence explained that the weapons Germany transferred to Ukraine now belong to that country and can be used in accordance with international law. However, she added that none of the German weapons transferred to Ukraine, unlike the Taurus missiles, fall into the long-range weapons category.
The Taurus missiles' range is about 500 kilometres, which would allow Ukraine to attack targets far from its border. For comparison, the range of the short-range ATACMS ballistic missiles provided to Ukraine by the United States is about 300 kilometres.
Reuters reports that Ukraine plans to use the ATACMS missiles for the first time in the coming days in the context of targets in Russia. The U.S. changing its stance on the restrictions on the use of these weapons was in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean ground forces at the front. German authorities have been claiming for months that providing Taurus missiles to Ukraine could further escalate its conflict with Russia.
