German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that recent comments by US President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine reinforced his own steadfast refusal to supply Kyiv with long-range Taurus cruise missiles, dpa reports, UNN writes.
Scholz said on Tuesday that he is strongly opposed to providing Ukraine with long-range weapons that can strike deep into Russian territory, out of caution to avoid escalation.
“And if I understand correctly, this will also be assessed similarly in the future, for example, in the framework of transatlantic cooperation. At least that's what I read from President Trump in his recent interviews,” Scholz said.
Trump condemned the decision of the current US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with US-supplied missiles as “very stupid”.
“I don't think it should have been allowed, [...] certainly not weeks before I took office,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I would not have let him do that. I think it was a big mistake.
Trump did not say whether he would reverse the decision after taking office on January 20.
Addendum Addendum
In November, Biden authorized Kyiv to attack certain targets in Russia with ATACMS missiles to defend itself against the ongoing Russian invasion. France and the United Kingdom have also recently eased restrictions on the use of cruise missiles that the countries have been supplying to Ukraine.