Berlin will not provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles for now – German ambassador

Jaeger said this in an interview with European Pravda. 

"Currently, there will be no deliveries of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. In my opinion, the federal government and the German Chancellor have made this very clear. We also informed the Ukrainian government about this decision, and we informed them in detail. And that's all I can say publicly on this matter at the moment," the ambassador said. 

He noted that at the same time, Germany is preparing a new aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 1 billion, which will include "really important components that will help strengthen your air defense."

"By the way, today Germany is probably the leading country investing in your air defense, if not the United States," Jaeger said. 

The German ambassador added that Berlin continues to support Ukraine and reminded that the country recently announced that it would provide Ukraine with another fully equipped Patriot system and additional IRIS-T systems.

Available information on Taurus missiles

The Taurus KEPD 350/150 is a subsonic, long-range, air-to-surface tactical cruise missile for precision strikes and engagement of highly protected and buried targets without the missile carrier entering the enemy air defense zone. 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.

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

At the end of August, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a speedy decision on supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, as every day is important. And in mid-September, German MPs wrote a letter to Scholz urging him to make a decision in favor of Ukraine.

In turn, Scholz has no plans to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles, but may provide more ammunition for Patriot.