Strack carpenter is advocating for Taurus transportation to Kiev's premises.
The dispute over employing sophisticated weaponry to strike Russian soil is once again stirring up an age-old argument within the coalition government: FDP politician Strack-Zimmermann suggests utilizing the German cruise missile Taurus to hit Moscow's launch sites. That's what it was designed for.
Politicians from the traffic light parties support allowing Ukraine to utilize long-range weapons against targets within Russia. "We need to help Ukraine, along with other European nations, Britain, and the USA, to demolish military targets on Russian soil from which rockets, drones, and cruise missiles are launched at Ukraine daily," stated Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Defense Committee in the EU Parliament, to "Spiegel". "The only way to bring Putin to the negotiation table is from a position of military strength," added the FDP politician.
"This means Germany must provide the Taurus. Because the Taurus was designed to neutralize military targets prior to their launching heavy attacks," said Strack-Zimmermann. Given the situation in Ukraine, discussing this matter is "no longer acceptable."
Similarly, Green politician Toni Hofreiter voiced his opinion. "To effectively counter Russian rocket attacks, Ukraine must be able to challenge Russian launch bases on Russian soil with long-range weapons," said the chair of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag. Russia is deliberately attacking Ukrainian power plants and substations from the air, and Germany is one of the major donors for the reconstruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure. "For the sustainable reconstruction of damaged energy facilities, the use of long-range weapons to challenge Russian launch bases is unavoidable," said the Green politician.
Hebestreit: The issue is not relevant
Previously, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit had refrained from expressing the federal government's position on this matter. The current debate in Britain and the USA is "regarding weapons that we haven't delivered." The weapons at issue are "different in quality" from those delivered by Germany to Ukraine and have a greater range. Therefore, no changes are required, explained Hebestreit, without addressing the Taurus dispute within the traffic light coalition.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that a possible authorization from NATO partners to use long-range weapons against targets in Russia complies with international law. It is up to the USA and Britain to decide on such use on Russian territory with regard to the weapons they have delivered, the SPD politician explained in Berlin. "International law allows for that." Regarding warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO would then be at war with his country, Pistorius said: "Putin's threats are Putin's threats. There's nothing more to say about that. He threatens whenever he wants to, and he bribes whenever he thinks it's right."
Among other things, the issue of long-range weapons will be discussed today, Friday, at a meeting between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington.
The escalating dispute over the attack on Ukraine has led some politicians to advocate for the use of long-range weapons to strike Russian soil. As Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a prominent FDP politician, stated, "The only way to bring Putin to the negotiation table is from a position of military strength," and she emphasized the need for Germany to provide the Taurus missile to achieve this goal.
Given Russia's deliberate attacks on Ukrainian power plants and substations, Green politician Toni Hofreiter argued that allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to challenge Russian launch bases is crucial for the sustainable reconstruction of damaged energy facilities. The use of such weapons, according to Hofreiter, is an unavoidable necessity in this situation.
