Merz to deliver TAURUS missiles in coming months — German political analyst

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

“All the weapons stored in the Bundeswehr’s warehouses are absolutely worthless, because it’s clear that the German government lacks the political will to use them against the aggressor state. And if there were an attack on Germany, with Russian troops already entering German territory - say, near the Oder River - that would mean the occupiers had already passed through Ukraine and Poland. At that point, the weapons would no longer be needed, because it’s obvious Germany would not be able to stop such an invasion. In my view, the best use for German weapons is to transfer them to Ukraine, which would help preserve Germany’s own integrity. If I’m not mistaken, there are currently around 500–600 TAURUS missiles in German storage,” noted Serhii Sumlennyi.

According to him, the issue is that no new TAURUS missiles have been produced in recent years due to the lack of government orders for manufacturers. And by law, German arms producers are prohibited from manufacturing weapons without a state order—even producing weapons for storage is a criminal offense. Claims like “we need these weapons ourselves” are false: if the TAURUS missiles are truly needed, then the government should be placing orders with manufacturers. Accordingly, the older missiles could be transferred to Ukraine, while newly produced ones would remain in Germany.

“So far in the discussions, we have heard that Germany should not give Ukraine TAURUS because Putin will retaliate or these missiles will not help win the war. I believe the missiles will be transferred to Ukraine. Merz will deliver the TAURUS, as it was one of his key campaign promises. I don’t see what could stop him from doing it. In my opinion, TAURUS missiles will be handed over to Ukraine in the coming months, either alongside or after the training of Ukrainian crews,” the German political analyst emphasized.

• On April 14, Germany's soon-to-be chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that he has consistently supported the supply of TAURUS long-range missiles to Ukraine — provided the decision is coordinated with European partners.
• At the same time, Germany’s acting Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is skeptical about transferring TAURUS missiles to Ukraine.