The German government will help Ukraine develop its own long-range missiles.
Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this at a press conference after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on Wednesday.
The German Chancellor said that today our defense ministers will sign a memorandum for the supply of Ukrainian-made long-range combat systems. We will continue our military assistance and strengthen it in the future. Germany will continue it for as long as it takes.
He added that this will also include cooperation at the industrial level, which can be implemented both in Ukraine and in Germany.
Amid US President Donald Trump’s tussle over the Ukraine-Russia ceasefire, questions have arisen about whether Moscow will attack Berlin after the European country’s explosive decision to supply long-range missiles. Because Moscow has repeatedly warned Germany against such a decision.
Although the West has already given Ukraine long-range missiles since the start of the war, it has not been allowed to use them to attack Russian territory.
Following Germany’s decision, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian media outlet RT, warned on Wednesday that if Germany helps Ukraine target Russia with German-supplied ‘Taurus missiles’, Moscow will not rule out the possibility of a direct attack on Berlin.
Germany’s new decision could soon see the delivery of ‘Taurus missiles’ to Ukraine. It is capable of hitting targets 500 kilometers away and can reach the Russian capital from Ukrainian territory.
Russian editor Simonyan said that if ‘Taurus’ is ever used to attack Russia, Germany could face dire consequences.
The discussions in Moscow offices are that if German troops attack Moscow with German weapons, then our only option will be to attack Berlin.
He explained that German service members would have to be prepared and operational for the attack on Moscow with the ‘Taurus’ missile. Because the Ukrainians cannot maintain the missile or program it for flight missions.
Meanwhile, in response to the German Chancellor’s comments on lifting the sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if such a decision were indeed made, it would ‘seriously escalate tensions’ and undermine current efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
It is worth noting that the previous German government, led by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, had long refused to supply Ukraine with the ‘Taurus’ missiles. They argued that this would put Germany at risk of being directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Sources: BBC, Reuters, Xinhua