BERLIN, September 30. /TASS/. The decision by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to not supply Kiev with Taurus missiles remains in effect, despite opposition from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a government spokesman said.
"To reassure you, I can say that it has been a long time since the chancellor took a clear position on this issue. This position is still in force," Steffen Hebestreit, the spokesman, said at a news conference.
German Defense Ministry Spokesman Arne Collatz said: "For us, this is not an issue right now."
Baerbock alleged in an interview with ARD television over the weekend that Ukraine should be able to use long-range missiles for self-defense, but conceded that the German chancellor has a different opinion on the issue.
On September 20, Scholz again rejected the possibility of providing Ukraine with Taurus missiles, which have a range of about 500 kilometers. The chancellor repeatedly stated that the delivery of such weapons systems would entail a serious risk of escalation. Kiev has long been asking Berlin for the missiles. They are considered to be similar to UK-made Storm Shadow missiles, which have already been provided to Ukraine, but has a longer range.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on September 12 that Ukraine is unable to deliver strikes inside Russian territory without Western assistance because it needs satellite intelligence and flight input data to do so. According to the president, the current debate among NATO countries is not just about Kiev's potential use of Western long-range weapons, but they are also essentially making a decision whether to get directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict.