The British government has privately called on Germany to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles , as London expressed irritation over comments made by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about possible British involvement in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
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"According to people familiar with the matter, senior British ministers and officials have repeatedly made it clear to Germany that Ukraine is in dire need of Taurus missiles. The UK has proposed solutions to Berlin's resistance to sending them, including a swap deal under which the UK would supply Kyiv with more of its own Storm Shadow missiles, and Germany would then replenish the UK's stockpile with spare long-range missiles," the newspaper points out.
Germany needs to stop making excuses, said one British official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations between the countries.
"Scholz's behavior has shown that he is the wrong man, in the wrong position, at the wrong time, for the security of Europe," former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the Evening Standard on Thursday.
This week, Scholz ruled out sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, claiming that it would mean Germany would become a party to a war with Russia.
At a meeting with the Dresden community on Thursday, Scholz explained his argument that Germany cannot provide Ukraine with "weapons with a range of 500 kilometers that, if used incorrectly, could hit a target in Moscow." He added: "We have to be sure that we know where it will land," suggesting that the only way to do that is to have German troops involved to help with targeting.
This, according to the newspaper, speaks to a broader dispute that has developed between the UK and Germany over Scholz's statements earlier this week. "What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and concomitant target control cannot be done in Germany," Scholz said on Monday.
Some British lawmakers interpreted the remarks as a public comment by Scholz on the covert activities of British soldiers in Ukraine. "A small number of personnel" are "supporting the Ukrainian armed forces," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman Dave Pares said on Tuesday, without giving details.
"Scholz's comments are wrong, irresponsible and a slap in the face to allies," Alicia Cairns, chair of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said in a post in X. "Scholz should give up the Taurus and stop holding back Europe's security.
Міноборони Британії: використання Україною ракет Storm Shadow - це справа ЗСУ28.02.24, 17:58