Missiles call is rejected

GERMAN lawmakers have rejected a new call by the opposition for the government to send Taurus longrange cruise missiles to Ukraine, a day after Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his refusal to supply the weapons.

The main centre-right opposition bloc has sought to keep up pressure on the issue and exploit divisions in Mr Scholz’s unpopular three-party coalition. The German leader rejected suggestions that he did not trust Kyiv.

Germany has become the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States, but Mr Scholz has stalled for months on Ukraine’s desire for Taurus missiles, which have a range of up to 310 miles (500km).

His position has frustrated the conservative opposition and parts of Mr Scholz’s own coalition and Mr Scholz said last month that Germany must not become directly involved in the war.

Lawmakers have urged the government to deliver further longrange weapons to Ukraine but voted down a previous opposition call urging it to send Taurus missiles.

Critics reject Mr Scholz’s argument that Taurus missiles could only be used responsibly with the involvement of German soldiers.

However the “supposed prudence has only fuelled Putin in his aggression against Ukraine, according to opposition lawmaker Johann Wadephul, who said: “He will only retreat if he is forced to. Either we enable Ukraine to win the war or we will lose with it. There is no third way.”

Rolf Mutzenich, who leads the parliamentary group of Social Democrats, suggested that the debate was being driven by domestic political motives.

“Germany is the country that, after the United States, does most for Ukraine,” he said.

A senior lawmaker with the Greens, one of Mr Scholz’s junior coalition partners, made clear that her party continued to back sending Taurus missiles.

Agnieszka Brugger noted that any decision could only be made by senior ministers.

But she said that “hesitation and procrastination also can ultimately contribute to escalation” and rejected Mr Scholz’s attempts to shut down the debate.

She said that France and Britain had sent similar missiles and that had not meant a further escalation.