Anadolu staff
26 February 2024•Update: 26 February 2024
BERLIN
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday ruled out delivering long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, arguing that this may lead to a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
“We would like to prevent this war that Russia has started against Ukraine from escalating into a war between Russia and NATO,” Scholz said in an exclusive interview with German press agency DPA.
He pointed out that delivering German-made, long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine would necessitate assigning German soldiers for this mission or deploying them in Ukraine.
“German soldiers should not be linked in any way with the potential targets of this system, at any point, or at any place,” Scholz said and ruled out both an assignment in Germany and a deployment in Ukraine.
“It should be clear that there will be no German soldiers on Ukrainian soil. Our country and our country's military structures will not be involved in this war. That is the responsibility of the government, the responsibility of the chancellor, for our citizens. We will continue to face up to this responsibility with the utmost clarity in the future,” he said.
Ukraine has repeatedly asked Germany for Taurus cruise missiles, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said last month that Kyiv needs these weapons “not for an attack on Moscow,” but “to destroy the Russian military infrastructure along the frontline on Ukrainian territory.”
The powerful cruise missiles have a range of more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) and are well known for their success in properly targeting objects like bridges, or hard and deeply buried targets, such as command bunkers.
