Deputies of the Bundestag voted against the inclusion of TAURUS air-launched cruise missiles, whose range reaches 500 kilometers, in military aid to Ukraine. This was reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
The draft resolution was proposed by the opposition bloc of two parties — the Christian Democratic Union, which was previously led by Angela Merkel, and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria.
480 deputies voted “against”, 182 voted “for”, five abstained. A similar proportion was observed during the voting for the resolution on the transfer of TAURUS to Ukraine in January.
The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly asked Germany for these long-range missiles. “As in the past, we will always weigh every single decision very carefully to understand what works, what makes sense, what our contribution can be,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz answered questions about TAURUS in the summer of 2023.
“Many in Germany believe that the Chancellor’s refusal to supply long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine is explained by his fear that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would begin to fire them at Moscow, which TAURUS could theoretically reach,” wrote Deutsche Welle.