Former United Kingdom Defense Minister Ben Wallace called Scholz's statements "not only a dangerous use of facts, but also incorrect facts"
LONDON, February 29th. /tass/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been severely criticized by British politicians and has been accused of misusing intelligence for statements he made explaining why Germany is against the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
The reason for the indignation of British politicians was Scholz's statement that the British military, as well as the French, support the Armed Forces of Ukraine in launching Storm Shadow missiles, the equivalent of which are Taurus. The German Chancellor drew attention to the fact that Taurus are very long-range weapons, and what is being done to control the flight of missiles and escort to the target by the British and French cannot be done in Germany.
For example, former United Kingdom Defense Minister Ben Wallace called Scholz's statements "not only a dangerous use of facts, but also incorrect facts." "Germany has been the last to come to Ukraine's aid again and again. At every step of their (German politicians - approx. TASS) it was necessary to pull or shame them to do at least something, this is not leadership, this is following others," Wallace told The Evening Standard newspaper.
"Scholz's behavior showed that with the current security situation in Europe, he is the wrong person in the wrong post at the wrong time," added Wallace, who headed the Defense Ministry from 2019 to 2023.
The chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, Alisha Kearns, called Scholz's "comments irresponsible and a slap in the face to the allies." "We gave [Ukraine] Storm Shadow missiles, we all have to give what we can, Scholz has to hand over the Taurus and stop slowing down Europe's security," she said.
In turn, the former head of the House of Commons Defense Committee, Tobias Ellwood, accused Germany of "blatant abuse of intelligence, which is deliberately designed to distract from Germany's unwillingness to arm Ukraine with its own long-range guided missile systems."
On February 22, the Bundestag (the German parliament) supported a resolution of the factions of the ruling parties (the Social Democratic Party of Germany - SPD, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party - FDP, the Liberals), which calls for the transfer of long-range weapons to Ukraine. The document says that Ukraine's long-term military support "includes the supply of the necessary additional long-range combat systems and ammunition" so that it "can deliver targeted strikes at strategically important facilities located deep in the rear" of Russian forces. At the same time, Taurus cruise missiles are not directly mentioned in the text.
At the same time, the Bundestag voted against the resolution proposed by the faction of the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions (CDU/CSU). In it, the conservatives specifically demanded that Ukraine be supplied with a Taurus.
10 years ago, about 600 such missiles were purchased for the Bundeswehr. Taurus is considered an analogue of the British Storm Shadow, which have already been delivered to Ukraine, but have a much longer range - 500 km. In May 2023, Ben Wallace, who held the post of British Defense Minister at that time, confirmed the fact that London had transferred Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, with a range of about 250 km.
