BERLIN, March 1. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is reluctant to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine as he distrusts the Kiev regime, Oslo University expert Fabian Hoffmann said in an article published on the Focus Online news portal.
"The reluctance to send Tauruses cannot be explained with the technicalities of the cruise missile or the characteristics of its use. The chancellor’s mistrust toward Ukraine is the true reason," Hoffmann said. He expressed skepticism about the ostensible reasons given by Scholz, who said that the supply of the weapons system would require the presence of German military personnel in Ukraine to provide maintenance and thus was fraught with the associated risk of Germany becoming embroiled in the conflict.
"The statement that such a weapon like the Taurus that is meant for exports can be serviced by German personnel only is unreasonable," the expert added, as these missiles are now in service with the South Korean and Spanish militaries and can be serviced by local specialists, if need be. "Ukrainian personnel could learn how to manage the Taurus," he noted, explaining that the training would take just three to four months.
In reality, Scholz fears lest the Ukrainians "should use Taurus missiles not only on Ukrainian soil, but also against targets in Russia," despite Kiev’s repeated assurances to its Western sponsors that it has no such intentions. "If Ukraine loses trust among its Western partners, it may soon find itself faced with a critical situation, given the lack of more supplies," Hoffmann warned.
Scholz told a conference hosted by the DPA news agency earlier that he opposed handing Taurus cruise missiles over to Ukraine, citing the risk of Berlin getting dragged into the conflict. The German chancellor said that he was "very annoyed" by the "lack of balance" between what Kiev really needs and the debate over the Taurus.
On February 22, the Bundestag, or German parliament, supported a resolution submitted by the coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which urged that Germany provide Ukraine with long-range weapons. The document says that long-term military support for Ukraine involves "the delivery of additional necessary long-range weapons systems and ammunition" in order to enable Ukraine to carry out "targeted attacks on strategically important targets deep behind the lines of" the Russian forces. The capabilities mentioned in the resolution, however, do not directly mention the Taurus cruise missile.