Scholz admits fears of Ukraine potentially firing Taurus missiles at Moscow
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated his disapproval of donating Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
The head of the German government spoke during the so-called Public Dialogue in Dresden, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
This time, Scholz’s argument to back his stance was the idea that the German-made missiles could potentially be launched at targets in Russia’s capital Moscow.
"A Taurus with the 500-km range may hit some specific target in Moscow if used incorrectly," the politician said.
Scholz added "with all diplomatic abstractness, others also took care of being aware of exactly where weapons landed." In Germany’s case, it would imply involving German missile programming experts to make sure that missiles don’t fly toward the wrong targets, Scholz claimed. Earlier, the German chancellor has repeatedly stated that German missiles are a much more complex system than British and French ones).
"I believe it would be impossible… From the very beginning I clearly said: there will be no German, NATO soldiers in Ukraine ... and my position remains unwavering," the head of government emphasized.
Scholz stressed that NATO and individual Allies must not become a party to the conflict.
"We will prevent escalation, the war between Russia and NATO," the politician emphasized.
He also admitted he was annoyed by criticism of him refusing to donate Taurus missiles to Ukraine as many forget that Germany "has been sending much more than others", that it is currently the second largest arms supplier for Ukraine, and if the U.S. Congress fails to allocate more money, Germany will champion the list. The chancellor has listed numerous weapons systems Germany has sent among other partners, including tanks, MLR systems, air defense capabilities, and more.
At the same time, in response to one the attendees complaining that Berlin is opting for continued military assistance to Ukraine instead of searching for diplomatic ways for settlement, Scholz stressed that Germany "had to respond to an emergency" when the largest country in Europe tried to alter the borders by attacking another nation. The chancellor also disagreed with the claim that Berlin did not employ diplomacy, and recalled that he had repeatedly spoke with Putin, which, however, yielded no positive results.
This is Scholz’s 12th such Public Dialogue event. This time, the chancellor faced many questions on Ukraine.