Looks like Germany needs more time to decide on Taurus – Ukraine's Foreign Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has said that Ukraine still expects to receive long-range Taurus missiles from Germany.
Source: Kuleba during the ZDF morning programme on 3 November, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Asked why Berlin is delaying the delivery of long-range missiles, Kuleba has said the German government apparently needs more time to decide.
Quote: "The explanations you hear openly in the German media are the same ones we hear behind closed doors. These explanations evolve from time to time. This week, we heard the defence minister's position. We understand that the Taurus issue is being discussed, but the German government needs more time to form a final decision," the minister noted.
At the same time, he responded to Berlin's concern that Ukraine could use German missiles to strike the territory of the Russian Federation.
"We have built very trusting relations with many countries ... if a country asks us to limit the range of weapons to a certain territory, we do it," he said.
Speaking about German support for Ukraine in the war, Kuleba thanked Berlin for its decision to deliver Patriot air defence systems.
"At the same time, I want to highly commend the German government for transferring the Patriot systems. This is exactly what we asked for to protect our peaceful cities and our energy infrastructure," the minister noted.
Background:
- On 19 October, Martin Jäger, the Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine, said that the government in Berlin will not supply Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles for the time being.
- On 5 October, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained that Germany has not yet decided on supplying long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, as it is trying to prevent an "escalation" of the war.
- Bild previously reported that the chancellor is concerned that for Ukraine to use Taurus missiles, Berlin would have to provide geodata about Russian targets. Thus, according to the chancellor, Germany will be forced to take a more active part in the war.
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