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Germany still reluctant to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles — Cabinet official

It is reported that the announcement about "a very substantial" package of weapons for Ukraine will be made in Vilnius

BERLIN, July 10. /TASS/. Although Germany is set to announce plans to send more arms to Kiev, the Taurus cruise missile is not on the list of weapons being considered, a German official told reporters on Monday.

"As for the Taurus, I have no news to report here," he said. However, the announcement about "a very substantial" package of weapons for Ukraine will be made in Vilnius, he added, without elaborating.

In late May, Ukraine asked Berlin for Taurus missiles, which have a range of up to 500 km. Officials told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky had discussed the issue with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin in mid-May. Kiev sought to get the missiles as soon as possible, the officials said.

A decade ago, around 600 Taurus missiles were purchased for the Bundeswehr, of which some 150 were ready for use. The weapon is similar to the British-made Storm Shadow missile, however, the Swedish-German weapon has a greater range.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated in an interview with ARD television on July 2 that Berlin opposed sending the Taurus cruise missile to Kiev because it was trying to avoid a situation where the German weapon would be used on Russian territory.