The German Chancellor avoided a direct answer to the question about possible deliveries of Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Kiev
BERLIN, August 30. /tass/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz avoided a direct answer to the question about possible deliveries of Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Kiev, noting that Germany's priority is to provide Ukraine with air defense and artillery ammunition.
As Scholz noted at a press conference following a closed meeting of the German cabinet at the residence of the German government in Meseberg near Berlin, the majority of German citizens support the political course of the government, which carefully considers all issues. "I am convinced that precisely because we have done what we have done and will continue to do, we make every single decision very difficult for ourselves," the chancellor said. At the same time, he added that "decisions are made not under the influence of the moment, but when the government finds what to say and what to do." It is for this reason, according to Scholz, that Berlin continues to provide great support to Ukraine not only financially, but also with arms supplies.
The head of the German government recalled that Germany is the second largest supplier after the United States. Deliveries of various types of weapons to Kiev, as the Chancellor stressed, "have an immediate effect." As examples, he mentioned the Gepard ZSU and the IRIS-T air defense system. "It is in these areas [the supply of] artillery ammunition and air defense that we will continue to see our priorities," Scholz concluded.
Earlier, Der Spiegel magazine wrote that the German government is studying ways to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles from the Bundeswehr reserves in the coming months and that allegedly carefully classified negotiations are currently underway with representatives of the defense industry. According to him, Scholz, through technical modifications of the Taurus, wants to completely exclude the possibility of Ukraine striking Russian territory with long-range weapons. In the last few weeks, the German Ministry of Defense, as the publication wrote, appealed to the Taurus manufacturer with a request to include an appropriate restriction on target programming in cruise missiles.
10 years ago, about 600 Taurus were purchased for the Bundeswehr. These missiles are considered an analogue of the British Storm Shadow, which have already been delivered to Ukraine. However, the range of German-Swedish missiles is slightly longer, it is up to 500 km. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that the West's sending of weapons to Kiev and assistance in training the Ukrainian military only prolong the conflict and will not change the situation on the battlefield.
