November 16, 2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP

Kyiv has long been insisting on deliveries of the cruise missile. Chancellor Scholz continues to categorically reject this. The failure of the traffic light coalition could lead to a change of course, at least in parliament.

Ukraine is coming under increasing pressure in its defensive struggle against the invading troops of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. The government in Kyiv is urgently demanding more weapons and ammunition from its Western allies. High on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wish list is the German Taurus cruise missile, which has a range of up to 500 kilometers and great destructive power.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly categorically ruled out supplying Kyiv’s army with these missiles, which could theoretically be used to attack targets in Moscow from Ukraine. He fears that this could lead to further escalation and draw Germany directly into the war.

He remains opposed to “the fact that the weapons we supply can be used to fire deep into Russian territory,” Scholz said in his government statement in the Bundestag on Wednesday. The former coalition partner FDP is now considering a motion in parliament – even before the planned new elections.

Even in the now collapsed traffic light coalition, there have been different positions on this issue. The SPD largely supports the Chancellor’s position, but parts of the Greens and FDP, like the Union, are in favor of it.

Taurus cruise missile

• The cruise missile is launched from fighter aircraft and can fly over 500 kilometers with its turbofan engine.
• It orientates itself using data about the terrain and compares its location using image and infrared sensors as well as GPS navigation data.
• The Taurus can fly under enemy radar at high speed at an altitude of less than 50 meters.
• When it hits the target, a first charge blows a gap in the target’s wall or ceiling. A 400-kilogram metal canister filled with explosives then penetrates through this gap and explodes.
• The German army has 600 Taurus missiles, but not all of them are operational.
• The unit price is 950,000 euros.  (AFP, Tsp)

During the time of the traffic light government, the CDU/CSU had already submitted several proposals to the Bundestag – but to no avail. In the last vote on the matter in March, the SPD, Greens and FDP factions voted unanimously against it, the only dissenters being Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and Wolfgang Kubicki (both FDP). Another vehement, prominent supporter of a delivery is 
the Green European politician Anton Hofreiter.

After the breakdown of the traffic light coalition, the FDP now wants to put a motion on the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine to a vote in the Bundestag, possibly before the early elections planned for February 23, 2025.

“That would be a possibility. And I can certainly imagine, when I look at the statements made by the Union [the CDU–OFP] and the Greens, that such a proposal could be successful,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “If the situation in Ukraine is dramatic, then money is not the first thing that is needed,” he continued. “We have proposed finally delivering Taurus cruise missiles to them.”

However, it is not the Bundestag that decides on the delivery of individual types of weapons, but the Federal Security Council and ultimately the Federal Chancellor, who chairs the body.

Baerbock calls for extensive weapons systems for Ukraine

One question would be how the Greens would behave in a possible vote. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Friday at the Green Party conference for “another big, big security package” to be launched and for “a push for far-reaching weapons systems.” However, Baerbock did not explicitly mention the Taurus cruise missile. 

Other European countries such as Great Britain and France are already supplying cruise missiles to Ukraine, but these have a shorter range than the Taurus. “It is now a matter of finally finding the strength to do what our partners are already doing,” the Foreign Minister continued. Ukraine must be protected “because it is our peace,” Baerbock said, justifying her demands. It is a matter of not losing peace on our continent.

When former finance minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner (FDP) demanded in the Bundestag debate on the government statement this week that Germany must muster the strength to “equip Ukraine with the Taurus weapons system as well,” Baerbock signaled to her faction from the government bench to applaud, as the Reuters agency writes.

In his speech, Scholz had just emphasized once again that, despite all his solidarity with Ukraine, he would stick to his position: he would neither supply the long-range cruise missiles nor give his consent to using weapons supplied by Germany against targets in the Russian hinterland. According to information from government circles, the only thing that seems certain is that Scholz will not change his position on Taurus before the new elections, Reuters continues.

In an interview with the “Stern” newspaper published last Sunday, the Union parliamentary group leader and CDU leader Friedrich Merz left it open how he would behave on this issue as a possible chancellor.

He proposed “giving the government in Kyiv the right to say: If the bombing of the civilian population does not stop within 24 hours, the range limitations of the existing weapons will be lifted jointly. If that is not enough, the Taurus will be delivered a week later. That would enable Ukraine to take the initiative again.”

Merz had already made it clear in previous statements that he wants to discuss a Taurus delivery at EU level. He is also likely to take his cue from the designated US President Donald Trump. How he will behave on the Ukraine issue is unclear, especially given his rather vague statements on peace plans.

On Tuesday, the Russian war of aggression will have lasted exactly 1,000 days. There have already been tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and many more injured. The civilian population in Ukraine has also been massively affected. Several million people have fled the country, including to Germany.

The Federal Republic is the second most important arms supplier to Ukraine after the USA and has already sent tanks, artillery, air defense systems and other weapons and military equipment worth many billions of euros to the war zone.

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/antrag-konnte-erfolg-haben-fdp-erwagt-abstimmung-im-bundestag-uber-taurus-fur-die-ukraine-vor-wahl-12717980.html