Scholz expresses opposition to supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine once again
Photo: AP
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, reiterated his stance against transferring long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
He stated this during the "hour of questions and answers" in the Bundestag, according to Ukrinform.
"For me, sending missiles to Ukraine is out of the question… This is a line that I, as chancellor, cannot cross," Stolz said.
He stressed the importance of ensuring that Germany does not participate. Scholz stated that the deployment of these missiles would require the involvement of German soldiers, which is unacceptable. Even if the soldiers are not physically located in Ukraine, this is still not acceptable, the prime minister pointed out.
Scholz ruled out the possibility of using these missiles with a range of up to 500 km without control by the German military, noting that this would be irresponsible and would not only lead to an escalation of the conflict but would also mean direct participation in the war.
"This is also the opinion of other responsible European politicians," Scholz added.
At the same time, he rejected the opposition's accusations of mistrust of Ukrainian partners, who have so far strictly adhered to all their obligations to Western arms suppliers.
"We trust Ukraine! The fact that we are the second largest partner in terms of support indicates great trust," Scholz emphasized.
He noted that no one in Europe helps Ukraine as much as Germany and repeated the data that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Germany has provided, pledged, or planned aid worth 28 billion euros. The head of government also noted that Berlin has allocated more than 7 billion euros in the budget for this year only for military aid to Ukraine, France – 3 billion, and Great Britain – 2.5 billion.
In addition, according to him, Germany is far ahead of other countries in supplying Ukraine with many weapons systems.
According to Scholz, Ukraine needs more ammunition, more air defense systems, etc., and fulfilling all the promises already made is essential.
Scholz emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine "so that it can defend itself" and assured the government and parliament would do everything to support this.
"We will urgently mobilize aid," the politician promised.
At the same time, he called it a central task to weigh decisions on each individual weapon system. He disagreed that the approach was a weakness.
For reference:
As reported on Thursday, the opposition faction of the CDU/CSU once again plans to put the issue of supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine to a roll call vote.
