Olaf Scholz is under increasing pressure to send long-range missiles to Ukraine

Prime Minister Olaf Scholz is under increasing pressure to drop his opposition to sending German-made cruise missiles to Ukraine after the United States allowed Kiev to limit the use of its weapons for attacks inside its territory. Russian territory.

US President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to launch limited attacks on Russia’s Kursk region using US-made long-range missiles, a major policy shift before Donald Trump took office. position in January.

Scholz has long opposed sending Germany’s long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine out of concern that such a move would draw NATO countries into conflict. The prime minister’s spokesman reiterated his position on Monday.

But calls for Scholz to change his policies are growing. Economy Minister and Green Party candidate for prime minister Robert Habeck said Sunday he would send Tauruses if he prevails in the country’s early elections in February.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a senior MEP, noted that the Green Party, the opposition Christian Democratic Union party and her party, the liberal FDP, all support the supply of Tauruses to Ukraine.

She told German radio that there was now a “majority in the Bundestag.” [for this]”.

The German-made Taurus will significantly enhance Ukraine’s offensive capabilities damage in Russiaanalysts said. This weapon has a smart warhead system that can ensure maximum damage to structures such as bridges and underground tunnels and has a range of over 500km.

Scholz’s intransigence on the Tauruses contrasts with the position of Britain and France, both of which are urging Biden to back them in allowing Ukraine to use its Storm Shadows and Scalps to strike targets in Russia .

However, Biden has so far refused to support Kyiv’s use of British and French-made weapons for fear of further escalating the conflict.

The increased pressure on Scholz also comes at a sensitive time for the prime minister, who pulled out of his coalition this month.

He was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having an hour-long phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday, his first in nearly two years.

Zelenskyy accused him of “opening Pandora’s box.” “This is exactly what Putin has been looking for for a long time. It is important for him to weaken his isolation,” he said on X.

On Monday, Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized Scholz, saying it was “a pity” that Germany did not join France and Britain in joining with the United States to help Ukraine defend itself with more missiles.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday he hoped other EU member states would follow the US decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets in Russia.

“Ukraine can use the weapons we provide to not only stop arrows but also hit archers,” Borrell said. “I hope member states will agree on that.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Monday that France is ready to lift restrictions on Ukraine over the past six months.

“We openly say that this is an option that we will consider if it allows attacking targets from where the Russians are currently invading Ukrainian territory,” Mr. Barrot said.

Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister and member of the Green Party, also praised the US move. “Self-defense means you don’t wait until a missile hits a children’s hospital. . . But you have to stop this act of military terrorism at launch,” she said.

Ukraine is in desperate need of new weapons as its front line collapses. However, experts say the overall impact of any long-range missile deployment depends on whether the United States expands the areas where they can be used.

Military expert Mykola Bielieskov said that if limited to Russia’s Kursk region, this weapon would not significantly change the dynamics of the war.

“The front line needs to be completely stabilized, which requires Atacms attacks along its entire” length, Bielieskov said.

Biden’s decision comes nearly two years after Ukraine first requested permission to use Western-supplied missiles to attack Russian territory. The US-led decision-making to supply weapons to Kiev was very cautious and involved many delays.

The long and highly publicized discussion about long-range weapons gave Moscow the opportunity to move many airfields and bases out of range of the Atacms.

“I don’t see Atacms as a game changer at this stage. It’s hard to see how they could change the trajectory of the conflict, said Nick Reynolds from the Royal United Services Institute.

The Kremlin said the US decision to allow Ukraine to conduct limited attacks inside Russia using Atacms marked a “new escalation” in the nearly three-year conflict and said Moscow would respond. “appropriate” response.

According to Interfax, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian President, said the outgoing Biden administration is trying to “continue to add fuel to the fire and provoke an escalation of tensions”.

Peskov did not say what Russia would do in response but reiterated Putin’s previous comments equating the move to a direct war between Moscow and the West.

“If this decision is made, it will mean nothing other than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine,” Mr. Peskov said.

Additional reporting by Raphael Minder in Warsaw