Johann Wadephul, CDU deputy chairman in the German parliament responsible for foreign affairs and defense, said his party had been campaigning for months for the delivery of Taurus to Ukraine, but has so far failed to convince Scholz…reports Asian Lite News
The announcement by the US on Wednesday that it had already provided Ukraine with long-range missiles has drawn focus to the ongoing debate in Germany over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces.
The US weapons system, called Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), has a range of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles).
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with the majority of German lawmakers, have repeatedly refused to send Ukraine long-range Taurus weapons system, arguing that doing so would bring Germany into direct conflict with Russia.
On Wednesday at a press conference alongside UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Scholz reiterated his opposition to providing Taurus missiles.
“My decision will not change,” Scholz said, hours before the US disclosed it had quietly delivered ATACMS as part of an assistance package in March.
An unnamed senior US defense official on Thursday told reporters that delivering Taurus was up to Germany, but that given the US decision on supplying ATACMS, and similar decisions in London and Paris to provide long-range cruise missiles, “we would certainly hope that this could be a factor,” on persuading Germany to change its mind.
Chancellor Scholz’s position has drawn harsh criticism from the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc. Others in his ruling coalition, namely the environmentalist Greens and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), are also in favor of sending the weapons.
“From my point of view, this is a very long-range weapon,” Scholz told lawmakers in March. “Given the significance of not losing control over targets, this weapon could not be used without the deployment of German soldiers.”
Johann Wadephul, CDU deputy chairman in the German parliament responsible for foreign affairs and defense, said his party had been campaigning for months for the delivery of Taurus to Ukraine, but has so far failed to convince Scholz.
“It’s now really the time to send Taurus because they are comparable to the ATACMS systems sent from the US, and they are very much needed in Ukraine,” Wadephul told DW.
The Taurus missiles can make a difference, the politician said. “They have a little bit longer range than the American systems, and they are able to reach their their aims in a very sophisticated way,” he said.
The missile, fired from the air by fighter jets, travels at almost the speed of sound and can strike targets as far as 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.
“It’s not a silver bullet but Ukraine needs to really go deeper, strike deeper into the Russian head ground,” Wadephul said.
Asked about Scholz’s refusal to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, Wadephul criticized the chancellor’s “stubborn position.”
“To stop a person like [Russian President Vladimir Putin], you need strengths, you need clearness and you need the will to win,” he said.
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