UK ready to help deliver long-range missiles to Ukraine: Cameron
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has consistently rejected the prospect of providing Ukraine with missiles capable of reaching far into Russian territory.
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Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron addresses the media during a press conference in Paris on December 19, 2023 (AP)
The United Kingdom is willing to assist Germany in resolving any issues that prevent it from sending its Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, or to devise a different plan in which it would send Kiev its own Storm Shadow missiles and purchase a replacement from Berlin, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron revealed in an interview with German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.
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.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has consistently rejected the prospect of providing Ukraine with missiles capable of reaching far into Russian territory.
Cameron told the German tabloid that London believed Kiev's vow not to deploy long-range missiles in a way that would intensify the war, but he did not rule out putting certain limitations and conditions before giving the weapon.
When asked if the UK was considering providing Ukraine its own Storm Shadow missiles and refilling the stock by purchasing Taurus missiles from Ukraine, Cameron was cited as responding that London was willing to examine any option that would have the greatest impact on Ukraine.
Cameron also divulged that London opposed a peace process in Ukraine because it made no sense to equip Kiev at the same time.
He stated that Ukraine risked receiving neither in that scenario, and that he saw only two possible outcomes in the Ukraine crisis: Kiev pushing Russia back and securing a bright and successful future for NATO, or Kiev losing and the group facing uncertainty.
UK claims 'incredible unity between allies' after German army leak
Britain claimed Thursday that allies' faith in Germany remained strong despite a leaked audio recording of German military officers discussing the war in Ukraine.
"I don't want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see... is incredible unity between allies," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said at a press conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.
A 38-minute recording of confidential German army talks, in which the officers debated the possible use of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukraine, was circulated on social media on Friday.
The conversation also touched on long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine by France and Britain, with reference made to British soldiers on the ground there.
Germany has pinned the blame for the successful wiretap by a foreign intelligence service on the "individual error" of a participant, who joined the meeting via an unsafe connection from Singapore.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday the leak "should not have happened" but stressed, "Trust in Germany is unbroken."
Germany has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to "destabilize" Ukraine's Western backers with the leak of the audio.
