The United States hopes that the transfer of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine will encourage German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to provide Taurus missiles.
This is reported by Deutsche Welle with reference to a senior US defense official.
It is indicated that an unnamed senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday that given the US decision to supply long-range missiles, as well as similar decisions by the UK and France, “we certainly hope that this could be a factor&# 8221;, which will convince Germany to change its mind.
Now watching
At the same time, the official emphasized that the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine depends exclusively on Germany.
As the publication writes, the US statement on ATACMS has renewed the debate within Germany about the supply of Taurus to Ukrainian troops.
Johann Wadeful, deputy chairman of the CDU party in the German parliament responsible for foreign affairs and defense, said that his party has been campaigning for several months for missile supplies to Ukraine, but has not yet been able to convince Scholz.< /p>
— Now is really the time to send Taurus to Ukraine because they are comparable to the ATACMS systems sent from the USA and they are much needed — said Wadeful.
Parliamentarian criticized “stubborn position” Chancellor and emphasized that stopping a person like Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “needs strength, clarity and the will to win”.
ATACMS for Ukraine
Previously, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that ATACMS long-range missiles were sent to Ukraine back in March as part of a $300 million aid package.
The aid package for Ukraine that US President Joe Biden signed on April 24 also contained some of the missiles, as Sullivan noted.
Ukraine has already repeatedly turned to its German partners with a request to provide long-range Taurus missiles. At the same time, Germany, citing the threat of escalation, has not yet made such a decision.
