German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday rejected Ukraine's request to deliver long-range Taurus missiles, saying he could not follow the example of France and the United Kingdom because it "
would not be responsible"
.
“It is a very long-range weapon, and what is being done in terms of targeting and supporting targeting by the British and the French cannot be done in Germany
,” Olaf Scholz told the German press agency DPA, in an interview subsequently broadcast by its press service to all media.
“From my point of view, it would be something that would not be responsible if we participated in the same way in the management of the targeting”
of these missiles, he added, warning against the risk that Germany finds himself
“in some way involved in the war”
directly.
“German soldiers must in no case and in no place be linked to the objectives achieved by these systems
,” explained Olaf Scholz, specifying that this also concerned the involvement of German soldiers remaining on their national territory.
The counterpart of Storm Shadow/Scalp
“What other countries do, which have other traditions and other constitutional institutions, is something that we cannot do to the same extent
,” Olaf Scholz further argued.
German Taurus missiles have a range of more than 500 kilometers and could therefore, if Ukraine had them, target objectives well inside Russian territory.
This is the reason why Berlin has refused for several months to deliver them to kyiv for fear that the conflict would extend to Russian territory, potentially leading to an escalation.
This German cruise missile is the counterpart of the Storm Shadow/Scalp, developed in parallel by the British and the French, and which was delivered to Ukraine.
Starting in May last year, kyiv obtained these Storm Shadow/Scalp (range of 250 km) delivered by France and the United Kingdom, then American ATACMS missiles (range of 165 km).
“What Ukraine lacks is ammunition for all possible
shooting distances,
” but not decisively this thing coming from Germany
,” said Olaf Scholz.