Germany should have started training Ukrainian military to operate Taurus missiles - German politician

Germany should have started training Ukrainian military personnel to operate Taurus missiles already now, because this would be a warning to the Kremlin.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the Bundestag from the Christian Democratic Union and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

According to the politician, the results of the U.S. presidential election and the collapse of the coalition government in Germany should eventually lead to Europe and Germany being forced to organize their aid to Ukraine in a new way.

"First and foremost, all frozen Russian assets should be transferred to Ukraine. Secondly, now it is necessary to start training Ukrainian soldiers how to operate Taurus missiles, which will take some time, so that at the next opportunity, such as Russia bombing another hospital or committing other war crimes, the Taurus will be handed over. Such conditioning (tying the transfer of weapons to certain conditions) should be a signal. And thirdly, it is necessary to state very clearly that Ukraine will no longer fight with tied hands on its own territory, but will be able to hit military targets in Russia within the limits allowed by international law," Kiesewetter said.

He expressed hope that this would happen when the Conservatives are strong enough after the election that they can choose their coalition partners. Kiesewetter did not name the potential partners in the coalition government that the CDU/CSU bloc expects to lead, but noted that "the only party in Germany that does not have close ties with Russia in its own ranks is the Greens," and spoke favorably to this party's position on the issue of support for Ukraine.

"The position of the new government will be to do everything so that Ukraine becomes part of the EU and NATO, and its people see a clear perspective and have confidence that all promises will be fulfilled - that within a few years, Ukraine will first be part of NATO and later part of the EU," Kiesewetter said.

He stated that "it is already clear that the elections will be held no later than March 9."

According to Kiesewetter, the coalition government led by the Social Democrats was very divided on the issue of support for Ukraine. He described statements that Germany is the second largest aid provider to Kyiv after the United States as false, because "more than 70% of German aid to Ukraine remains in Germany as aid to Ukrainians who found protection here from the Russian war, while Germany currently allocates 0.1% of its GDP," the lawmaker said. For comparison: the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, for example, send much more aid, and some of them send more than 1% of their GDP.

Kiesewetter believes that there are those in the current government who would rather accept refugees from Ukraine and pay for this than clearly demand that Russia abandon its colonial ambitions. The central requirement for Russia should be that it recognize the right of all its neighbors to exist, he said.

"We are talking about the fact that we will support [Ukraine] for as long as it takes, but if Ukraine ceases to exist, then support will no longer be needed," the politician said.

In connection with the collapse of the three-party coalition government in Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will raise the question of confidence in the chancellor for discussion in the Bundestag and, in the event of a vote of no confidence, the German president will sign an order to hold snap parliamentary elections. According to a survey, up to 65% of citizens support early elections in the country.