German party leader rejects sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine

The new chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Matthias Miersch, has strongly opposed supplying Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

“We do not want to become a party to the war, and that is exactly how we have always understood the refusal to supply Taurus missiles — and that is how it will remain,” he stated, Caliber.Az reports, citing German media outlets.

Miersch noted that the issue will be discussed within the government, “but only under those specific circumstances.”

Kyiv has long been pressing Germany to provide the cruise missiles which would allow it to strike targets on Russian soil far beyond the front line.

The previous SPD-led government always rejected the request over concerns of being drawn into the war, but a new conservative-led government has since taken office in Berlin, fuelling hope in Kiev of a possible change of course.

In the run-up to February's elections, new Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalled openness to providing the missiles to ramp up pressure on Moscow, but has said he would only do so in coordination with European partners.

By Khagan Isayev