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Weapons supplies to Kiev entail escalation risks — Germany’s Left Party

Heated debates are going on Germany about possible supplies of Taurus long-range missiles requested by Kiev

BERLIN, August 14. /TASS/. Germany’s Left Party is against supplying Kiev with Taurus cruise missiles and calls for more energetic efforts toward reaching peace in Ukraine through talks, the party’s secretary, Tobias Bank, said on Monday.

"Evidently, each new types of weapons means a new risk of escalation," he said. "What is going on now is dancing on a volcano. And we, the Left, reject this."

According to Bank, the party is against arms supplied to Kiev in principle. He called for setting up a "big alliance for peace," with the German government playing a leading role. "Both sides must get back to the negotiating table. They must be compelled to sit down at the negotiating table," he said.

Heated debates are going on Germany about possible supplies of Taurus long-range missiles requested by Kiev. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung sources, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky discussed this matter with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on May 14. Some politicians from the ruling coalition formed by the Greens, Free Democratic Party, and the opposition CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) bloc call for supplying these missiles to Ukraine while the majority of Social Democrats are against.

Around 600 Taurus missiles were purchased for the Bundeswehr ten years ago. These missiles are considered to be analogous to British Storm Shadows, which have already been delivered to Ukraine. However, Taurus’ range is longer than Storm Shadow’s, reaching 500 kilometers. The German authorities are afraid that Kiev will use Taurus missiles to hit targets on Russia’s territory. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that the West’s weapons supplies to Kiev and its assistance in training Ukrainian troops only prolong the conflict and will not change the situation on the battlefield.

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Ukraine crisis Germany

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