Motion to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles rejected by German parliament may be voted in February — Ukraine's official

Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Yehor Cherniev wrote about this on Facebook.

"I just got in touch with my friends in the Bundestag about the news that the German parliament allegedly refused to give us Taurus missiles. It was a separate bill by a part of the opposition that they wanted to put to a vote without the consent of the others," Cherniev wrote.

According to him, the proposal was rejected not "on the merits" but because of a violation of the procedure and "an attempt to use it for narrow party PR.”

"The plan to submit a joint draft law of all factions to the Bundestag remains in force. It is likely to be voted on by February 22," Cherniev said. 

Taurus missiles for Ukraine: what is known

In May, it was reported that Ukraine had asked Germany for long-range missiles.

At the end of June, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany did not intend to provide Ukraine with these missiles.

In early August, it was reported that the Bundestag had reached a consensus on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

At the same time, the German newspaper Spiegel reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to make technical modifications to the missiles to prevent Kyiv from striking Russian territory. 

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, spoke out against limiting the range of long-range Taurus missiles.

On August 21, the German government’s spokesman reported that providing Ukraine with Taurus missiles is not on the agenda.

On September 4, the head of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for being the only one in the coalition to block the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

On January 2, 2024, the chairman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, a representative of the Free Democratic Party, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, again called for the provision of these missiles to Ukraine.

For reference: The Taurus KEPD 350/150 is a subsonic, long-range, air-to-surface tactical cruise missile for precision strikes and destruction of highly protected and hidden targets without the missile carrier entering enemy air defense zones. The basic KEPD-350 model has a tandem concrete-piercing warhead weighing 481 kg and an explosive weight of about 50 kg. The weight of the refueled warhead is 1360 kg, and the empty weight is 1080 kg. The maximum flight range is at least 500 km.