German lawmakers reject providing Kiev with long-range Taurus missiles
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This step comes within Germany's numerous recent attempts to avoid direct confrontation with Russia regardless of its continuous support for Ukraine.
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In this photo provided by the South Korean Defense Ministry, a Taurus missile fired from a South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jet is about to hit a target during a drill, off the country's western coast, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 (AP)
German lawmakers have voted against a motion presented by the opposition to supply Kiev with long-range Taurus missiles, two years into the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
German legislators yesterday voted in favor of providing Ukraine with further aid, yet, they refused to accept the opposition-drafted motion to arm the country with German-Swedish air-launched cruise missiles.
The Taurus missile is launched from a fighter jet and has a warhead weighing nearly half a ton against a fortified target up to 310 miles (about 500 kilometers) away, almost equivalent to the UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles. This means that the Taurus missile can hit the Russian capital, Moscow, which is about 450 kilometers away from the border with Ukraine.
During his speech at the Bundestag lower house, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius claimed that “Putin’s Russia is and will remain the greatest security threat to Europe for the foreseeable future," adding that Germany would fight it with “with all our strength."
Ever since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Germany has aided Ukraine with Leopard tanks and IRIS-T air defense systems, while Britain and France provided the country with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles.
Fearing an all-out escalation, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been trying to resist all domestic and foreign pressure to aid Ukraine with the long-range Taurus although Germany has been the second biggest donor of military assistance to the ex-Soviet nation.
Russia since 2022 has repeatedly warned the United States and its Western allies, including Germany, against partaking in the war, emphasizing that it will defend itself in any way possible. It also stressed that the West and NATO have been playing a direct role by continuously aiding Ukraine with advanced weapons and military equipment.
Tupolev Tu-160M: a highly upgraded Soviet-era heavy bomber
Separately, yesterday, Putin took a 30-minute flight, according to Russian news agencies, in the modernized Tupolev Tu-160M nuclear-capable strategic bomber refreshing the West's memory of Russia’s nuclear capabilities.
Tupolev Tu-160M, codenamed by NATO as “Blackjacks”, has a variable-sweep wing and is an advanced version of a Soviet-era heavy bomber Russia could use to move weapons at long distances in the event of nuclear war.
In footage broadcast by state television, Putin appeared coming down a ladder from a Tu-160M after the flight as he informed reporters that it was a reliable and modernized aircraft fitting the Russian Air Force standards.
“It’s a new machine. A lot about it is new. It’s easier to control. It’s reliable,” he emphasized.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov revealed that the Tu-160M’s flight path was military confidential information.
The four-crewed aircraft can hold up to 12 cruise missiles or 12 short-range nuclear missiles and is capable of flying 12,000 kilometers non-stop without refueling which makes it 60% more effective than the older version.
