On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz outlined the constitutional restrictions and risk for further escalation in the conflict as reasons for his reluctance to give Ukraine Taurus cruise missiles.
Scholz has stated that the United States will send another Patriot air defense system to Kyiv for the upcoming winter months.
The chancellor is pressured by the United Kingdom and his ruling coalition to sell German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine because of their long range and remarkable precision. To counter the “Storm Shadow” and “Scalp” cruise missiles the United Kingdom and France supplied to Kyiv, respectively.
A German official said on Wednesday that Bild’s allegation that Scholz still refuses to surrender the Taurus is accurate. The chancellor told reporters on Thursday that he did not want to unleash the cruise missiles because a decision of that magnitude requires much thought.
Scholz, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain, said that his government must always take into account what the constitution requires and what their options are in any given situation, noting that when a war lasts for so long, these considerations can’t stop at once.
He stressed the significance of preventing a widening hostilities and Germany’s entry into the conflict.
He did not elaborate upon the probable constitutional restraints that Scholz had in mind. Bild reports that Merkel was concerned that Berlin would have to send geo-data about Russian targets if Ukraine employed the Taurus missiles, which would entail a more active involvement in the battle. Scholz is worried that Ukraine may use the missiles to attack the Kerch bridge, which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia.
German security analyst and deputy director of the German Council on Foreign Relations Christian Mölling said on X that despite supplying cruise missiles to Ukraine, Germany would not be actively involved in the fight. He dismissed Scholz’s worries as baseless criticism.
Social Democratic senator and defense policy expert Andreas Schwarz is a vocal critic of the chancellor’s choice. What happens in politics today will be recorded in history books, Schwarz wrote on X on Wednesday night, adding, “My stance is and is clear: Deliver Taurus — quickly!”
