04/14/2025
Future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would be willing to transfer German Taurus long-range missiles to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, but only if EU leaders support the decision. The politician noted that he has held this position before.
Merz made this statement on the ARD channel on Sunday, April 13, Le Monde reports . According to him, the transfer of such weapons must be coordinated with European partners.
“I have always said that I would do this (agree to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine. – Ed.), but only in agreement with European partners. This needs to be coordinated, and if it is coordinated, then Germany must participate,” the leader of the Christian Democratic Union said.
Merz drew attention to the fact that some countries are already supplying Ukraine with cruise missiles.
“The British do it, the French do it, the Americans do it anyway,” he noted.
As an example of the possible use of missiles, the politician cited the destruction of land routes between Russia and occupied Crimea, which are important for the logistics of the Russian army.
According to him, “the Ukrainian army must come out of a defensive position and begin to influence the course of events” at the front.
“The Ukrainian armed forces have only been reacting for three years. It’s time for them to start influencing the course of events,” Merz said.
The CDU leader also commented on the Russian missile strike on the city of Sumy on April 13, which killed 34 people. According to the politician, Russian dictator Putin perceives the West’s willingness to negotiate as weakness.
Merz called the strike on Sumy a serious, deliberate, and targeted war crime and drew attention to the fact that the Russians carried out the second attack while rescuers were providing assistance to the victims.
“This is the answer, this is what Putin does to those who discuss a ceasefire with him. He interprets our willingness to talk to him not as a serious offer of peace, but as weakness,” he added.
It should be noted that Taurus is a long-range, air-to-surface, subsonic aircraft cruise missile designed for high-precision strikes and defeating highly protected enemy air defense targets.
It is a 1,400 kg, 5-meter-long missile with an official range of 500 km. It is essentially a German-Swedish counterpart to the Franco-British Storm Shadow missile.
As OBOZ.UA reported, Merz recently spoke out against Ukraine joining the European Union and NATO during a full-scale war with Russia. In his opinion, a country at war cannot join these alliances.
“I have always said that I would do this (agree to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine. – Ed.), but only in agreement with European partners.”
Late last year, I think he said that he would send the Taurus in agreement with the US, so I suppose, this is an improvement. But, for the life of me, I can’t understand why no Western leader has a spine like Churchill had. Have we humans developed into nematodes, or what?
“According to him, “the Ukrainian army must come out of a defensive position and begin to influence the course of events” at the front.”
That is an operational decision that can only come from Ukrainian commanders. Supplying Taurus in large numbers would influence that decision.
“I have always said that I would do this (agree to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine. – Ed.), but only in agreement with European partners.”
Does he require permission from OrbanaZi and FiconaZi?
[…] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would be willing to transfer German Taurus long-range missiles to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Perhaps imports of […]