Pistorius believes providing Ukraine with Taurus will not dramatically affect ongoing war

Ukrinform writes about it. 

"I don't believe these missiles will be a game-changer," stated Pistorius.

He pointed out that the transfer of German missiles to Ukraine is not a new development. Pistorius also emphasized that Germany should consider its own interests when providing assistance to Ukraine, though he did not specify what those interests entail.

The minister mentioned that the German government thoroughly evaluates each step in the process of supplying weapons, and these decisions are not made lightly.

Pistorius highlighted the differences between the missile systems, stating that the ATACMS, provided by the USA, has a range of 160 km, whereas the Taurus missiles have a range of 500 km – they are completely different systems.

Additionally, he reminded the audience that Germany is currently the second-largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine, following the United States. German weapons continue to play a crucial role in saving lives and protecting Ukraine's infrastructure on a daily basis.

Taurus missiles for Ukraine

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 wanted 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.