German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said when the decision to transfer long-range TAURUS cruise missiles to Ukraine will be made.
According to Boris Pistorius, the German government will decide on TAURUS supply to Ukraine within one or two weeks.
“A week or two for a decision to be made” – Defence Minister
“If it takes a week or two for a decision to be made, that’s how it will be,” Pistorius said at the first Westphalian Peace Conference in Munster.
The minister added that this does not mean any hesitation by the federal government.
The defence minister said that TAURUS cruise missiles can hit targets at longer ranges than any other weapon supplied to Ukraine, and they are “a very sophisticated industrial product.”
German TAURUS missiles for Ukraine
The TAURUS cruise missiles will allow long-range strikes on Russian military infrastructure in the occupied territory. Ukraine has already been effectively using the French-British Storm Shadow/SCALP EG missiles for these purposes.
On September 14, members of the Bundestag wrote a letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius demanding that Ukraine receive TAURUS cruise missiles.
“In particular, Ukraine needs the Taurus cruise missiles in service with the Bundeswehr to purposefully weaken Russian military logistics,” the letter says.
The German MPs emphasized that representatives of the Ukrainian government had assured them in personal conversations that these missiles would be used exclusively on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, they had no reason to doubt the promise.
At the end of May 2023, Ukraine made an official request to Germany for TAURUS cruise missiles. Also, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed long-range missiles supply in early May.
Before that, one of the most influential members of the Bundestag in the field of security and defence, Roderich Kiesewetter, spoke in favour of the missile delivery to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
