German MPs call on Scholz and Pistorius to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles

Tagesschau reported this.

Thus, Bundestag members Marie-Agnes Straka-Zimmermann (FDP), Anton Hofreiter (Greens) and Andreas Schwarz (SPD) called for further support for Ukraine.

In view of the next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Ramstein on September 19, they believe that Germany should provide Ukraine with further commitments in its defense struggle against Russia.

"In particular, Ukraine needs the Taurus cruise missile system, which is in service with the Bundeswehr, to weaken Russian military logistics," the letter reads.

Ukraine has assured that it will not use these missiles to strike at the territory of the Russian Federation, the German MPs reminded.

"We see no reason to doubt this commitment," they emphasized.

In addition, Germany should continue to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, ammunition, hospital supplies, and protected vehicles, especially battle tanks and armored personnel carriers, the politicians said.

They also emphasized the need to provide spare parts for previously supplied systems and assistance in their repair. Support from German industry should also be coordinated and improved, the MPs wrote.

What is known about Taurus missiles

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 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.

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

In August, MP Chernev 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 wanted to make technical modifications to the missiles to prevent Kyiv from striking Russian territory. At the same time, Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeyev 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 the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine, as every day is important.