Hesitation on Taurus rockets
Strack-Zimmermann is tough on Scholz
9/4/2023 2:54 am
The Chancellor is notoriously seen as a stumbling block for arms deliveries to Ukraine. While the FDP politician Strack-Zimmermann directly attacks Scholz because of the Taurus cruise missile, the criticism from Kiev is harsh on the matter.
The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann sharply criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the discussion about the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “What in God’s name is the chancellor waiting for?” Strack-Zimmermann wrote on Twitter that evening, now “X”. Scholz “alone is blocking this decision within the coalition. It’s irresponsible,” she added.
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Michailo Podoljak reiterated his country’s demand for an early delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles. “It is necessary to make decisions faster and more decisively,” Podoljak told the “Bild” newspaper. There was “no other way to destroy Russian logistics and rearguards, so Taurus is needed,” he argued. The aim is not “to attack Russian territory” but “to destroy the resources of the occupiers”.
“Lack of weapons prevented Ukrainian army from advancing”
Ukraine has long been urging Germany to deliver long-range and destructive cruise missiles. The Greens and the FDP have also been demanding corresponding deliveries to Kiev for weeks. The Chancellor has not yet decided for or against military aid. One of the SPD’s arguments against the delivery is the threat of an escalation in the conflict, since the weapon system, with a range of more than 500 kilometers, can also reach Russian territory.
Podoljak further told the newspaper that a lack of weapons prevented the Ukrainian army from advancing more quickly last year. “Unfortunately, there was no such equipment in the last year, and at this stage of the war it is no longer sufficient,” explained the presidential adviser. The amount of weapons “that could decide the outcome of the war last year is no longer sufficient today; there should be more of them.”