MÜNSTER (dpa-AFX) – According to Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the decision to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine could take around one to two weeks. “If it takes another week or two until a decision is made, then so be it,” said the SPD politician on Friday at the first “Westphalian Peace Conference” in Münster. That doesn’t mean any hesitation on the part of the federal government. “The Federal Republic of Germany must show this level of prudence, even if it is difficult for our Ukrainian friends to understand.”
Germany must weigh the consequences at every step. Cruise missiles range further than any other weapons delivered to date and are a “highly complex industrial product,” said the minister. “We’re not talking about programming a coffee machine here.” Germany has “around 500 and so many of these things.” Half of them are not up to date. The other half need an update and have to be programmed.
Ukraine has been demanding Taurus cruise missiles for a long time. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has always been cautious about this – probably because he wants to rule out attacks on Russian territory that could cause Russia to retaliate./dot/DP/ngu