BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany currently has no plans to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles because they are not comparable to missiles provided by France and Britain, Bild newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Berlin is also concerned that the missiles could be used to target the Kerch Bridge linking Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula seized and annexed by Moscow in 2014, the paper said.
Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply the Taurus missiles, which could give Ukraine the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory. Berlin has repeatedly said it will only act in concert with Washington on arms deliveries to Ukraine.
In an internal meeting last week, Bild said, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament’s foreign affairs committee that Taurus missiles were not comparable to France’s SCALP or Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missiles as those countries contribute geodata on targets directly themselves and are involved with their own personnel.
A spokesperson for the chancellery said there were no new updates regarding the issue of Taurus cruise missiles for Ukraine.
Bild also said British government officials had sought in recent weeks to persuade Germany to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Germany plans to supply additional air defences for Ukraine to help protect grain shipments from potential Russian attack.
Last month, Germany announced a new aid package worth 400 million euros for Ukraine, including additional ammunition, protective vehicles and mine clearance systems.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Gareth Jones)
