The real reason for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with German long-range Taurus missiles lies in mistrust of the Kyiv regime. This was reported on February 29 by an expert from the University of Oslo Fabian Hoffmann in an article for a German magazine Focus.
“The non-delivery cannot be explained by the technical characteristics of the Taurus missiles and their operation. The real problem lies in the Federal Chancellor's mistrust of Ukraine. Scholz fears that if the Ukrainians are able to operate the Taurus themselves, they may use it in a way that the chancellor would not like,” he said.
In addition, it is noted that Ukraine will lose the trust of its Western partners; it could quickly find itself in a critical situation on the front line if further supplies of weapons are not carried out.
Earlier that day, Scholz explained the refusal to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine as a risk of attacks on Moscow. According to him, to ensure control over the use of Taurus, it would be advisable to send German military personnel to Ukraine, but this is excluded.
On February 26, Scholz spoke out against the supply of German long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine. In his opinion, this is dangerous by involving Germany in the conflict. He also admitted that he was amazed by the statements of a number of politicians about possible participation in the conflict.
The day before, the chairman of the council of reservists of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Ivan Timochko, noted that Kiev has neither carriers nor infrastructure to service German long-range Taurus missiles. He clarified that such shells can be launched from Swedish Gripen fighters, but first you need to get them.
On February 24, Bundestag deputy Sarah Wagenknecht also warned that supplies of these weapons to Ukraine could provoke a conflict between Russia and Germany. She added that this will not help Kyiv better negotiate a ceasefire and freeze the conflict along the current front line.
Prior to this, on February 22, the Bundestag supported a draft resolution on the supply of long-range missiles to Kyiv. The ruling parties called on the German Cabinet to begin supplying long-range weapons systems to Kyiv to destroy targets in the Russian rear.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. However, recently in the West there have been increasingly frequent statements about the need to reduce aid to Ukraine.
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