They believe that "Ukraine's offensive is already showing important successes"
BERLIN, September 14. /tass/. Bundestag deputy from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Andreas Schwartz and the heads of the German Parliament's Committees on European Affairs Anton Hofreiter (Greens) and Defense Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman (FDP) in a joint letter appealed to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius with a request to deliver as soon as possible Ukraine has long-range cruise missiles Taurus. Der Spiegel magazine writes about this with reference to the letter of politicians at its disposal.
"Ukraine's offensive is already demonstrating important successes," the deputies say. "In particular, Ukraine needs Taurus cruise missiles, which are in service with the Bundeswehr, to purposefully weaken Russian military logistics," they said and added that the delivery should be carried out as soon as possible, in particular, because of the approaching winter.
Commenting on concerns that the Armed Forces of Ukraine with these missiles will strike targets on the territory of the Russian Federation, Schwartz, Hofreiter and Strack-Zimmerman stressed that "representatives of the Ukrainian government partially assured them in personal conversations that these weapons systems will be used exclusively on the territory of Ukraine." "We see no reason to doubt this promise," the deputies concluded.
"In order to make Ukraine's support more effective in the future, in our opinion, it is important to continue to supply air defense equipment, ammunition, hospital supplies and defense equipment, especially tanks and armored personnel carriers," the letter says. The deputies also insist on providing Kiev with spare parts for already supplied weapons systems and additional assistance in repairing equipment damaged during hostilities.
In conclusion, Schwartz, Hofreiter and Strack-Zimmerman expressed their conviction that the end of the conflict can be achieved only through diplomacy. "For this, it is necessary to further improve the initial position of Ukraine. It should be able to negotiate from a position of strength to achieve sustainable peace," the deputies argued.
The German authorities have not yet made a decision on the delivery of Taurus to Kiev. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly said that all steps on arms supplies are coordinated with partners, including overseas. He noted that the priority of Germany is still to provide Ukraine with air defense and artillery ammunition. The main reason why the German authorities are hesitant to supply Kiev with missiles is the fear that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will use them to strike targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock at a press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba indicated that she could not promise supplies of Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev. However, Kuleba immediately expressed confidence that Germany would do it anyway, and reproached Berlin for wasting time. In an interview with the ARD TV channel, Berbok asked Ukraine to be patient with the issue of the supply of Taurus cruise missiles, noting that first it is necessary to clarify all the details. At the same time, in an interview with the ZDF TV channel, the minister noted that Ukraine "needs missiles with a very long range."
Earlier, Der Spiegel magazine wrote that the German government is studying ways to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles from the reserves of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) 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.
