Diplomat explains why West is delaying providing Ukraine with long-range weapons

He said this on Espreso TV.

"The West, unfortunately, is very slow to raise the stakes (of providing long-range weapons to Ukraine - ed.). Obviously, the West will now consult on the response. We have to understand what the Americans will say. Because the Americans, Germans, and some other partners have missiles that can effectively hit Russian targets. But it is up to the Americans to respond," Klimkin said.

“It is with the Americans that we need to talk now, and talk strategically," he added.

"Of course, they will again list the possibility of escalation, the technical use of these missiles, and many other things. But long-range weapons are one of the critical issues, along with various types of drones that we need," the diplomat said.

He told us what kind of means and missile weapons Ukraine needs to destroy Russian sites and launchers.

"It should be noted that they (missiles - ed.) are launched from ships in the Black Sea. We will be able to reach these ships if we have more delicate weapons, including cruise missiles. This is a very important story, but these missiles are also launched, for example, from Russian aircraft that are located in Russia or the Caspian Sea. To get them effectively, you need other weapons. Taurus missiles will not be enough," he summarized.

• In May 2023, Ukraine asked Germany for long-range missiles.
• At the end of June last year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany did not intend to transfer these missiles to Ukraine.
• In August, MP Cherniev cited his own sources as saying 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 make it impossible for Kyiv to strike Russian territory. At the same time, Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev spoke out against limiting the range of long-range Taurus missiles.
• 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.
• On January 2, 2024, the chairman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, representative of the Free Democratic Party, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, again called for the provision of these missiles to Ukraine.