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Scholz says he won’t relax rules for Ukraine to use German weapons

The German Chancellor emphasized that there were "good reasons for that"

BERLIN, September 23. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said just before his meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that he will not relax the rules for Ukraine to use German weapons.

"The German government has made several decisions regarding military support for Ukraine, which are very clear to me," Scholz said on a visit to New York, DPA reported.

He added that Germany will not lift restrictions on the range of weapons.

"This is inconsistent with my personal position," the chancellor stated. "We are not going to do that. And we have good reasons for that."

On September 20, Scholz again rejected the option of transferring Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range of about 500 km, to Kiev. The chancellor has repeatedly said that the delivery of such weapons systems would prompt "a serious risk of escalation." Kiev has long been asking Berlin for Taurus missiles. They are considered an alternative to the UK’s Storm Shadow, which have already been supplied to Ukraine. However, the range of the German-Swedish missiles is longer.

On September 19, Germany updated the list of weapons it transferred to Kiev, by including 22 Leopard 1A5 tanks with spare parts, 3 Gepard self-propelled air defense systems, drones and other weapons. Also, news reports said Germany plans to provide 397 million euros in short-term additional military aid to Kiev.

Germany, the second-largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US, has committed a total of about 28 billion euros in past and future spending on military support to Kiev.

Russia has repeatedly said that funneling weapons into Ukraine will not reduce Russia's resolve or change the course of the special military operation.

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