Political pressure mounts on Scholz to send Ukraine Taurus missiles

The pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, which has been under attack from Russia for nearly two years, is growing.

Politicians from coalition partners the Greens and Free Democrat Party (FDP) and the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emphasised the necessity of these weapons in the Saturday edition of Dusseldorf newspaper Rheinische Post, and made some serious accusations against Scholz.

“The delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine is long overdue,” said Sara Nanni, defence spokeswoman for the Green parliamentary group in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.

“The most effective protection against Russian airstrikes is firing at targets on Russian territory and in the occupied eastern Ukrainian territories from where Russia launches its attacks,” she said.

So far, Ukraine has lacked the necessary materiel for this – also because Berlin is not supplying Taurus cruise missiles.

“The reluctance is mainly due to the Federal Chancellor and is not a general attitude of the German government,” Nanni said.

FDP defence expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said Germany must finally deliver the Taurus in order to disrupt the Russian supply lines.

“We must not be afraid of our own courage. That’s what Putin is hoping for,” she said.

CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter said that Russia sees itself strengthened by the weakness of the West and the lack of Taurus deliveries.

“This is why the lack of support is not just a failure to provide assistance, which is driving up the number of Ukrainian victims, but is de facto support for Russia,” Kiesewetter said.

Taurus is important “because this system is so effective and can be used to eliminate supply and command structures far behind the front line.”

The Taurus is one of the air force’s most modern missiles. The weapons can also find their target from great heights and distances and can destroy bunker systems, for example.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) decided at the beginning of October not to supply any Taurus cruise missiles for the time being. This was due to fears that Russian territory could also be hit by the precision weapons with a range of 500 kilometres.