Ukraine has asked Germany to supply it with Taurus cruise missiles, an air-launched weapon with a range of some 500 kilometers, a spokeswoman for the Defense Ministry in Berlin said on May 27.
Germany received the request several days ago, the spokeswoman said, confirming a report by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She declined to provide further details or say how likely it was that Germany would supply the missiles to Ukraine. Britain earlier in May became the first country to publicly provide Kyiv with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles.
Ukraine has requested that Germany provide it with Taurus cruise missiles, a German Defense Ministry spokeswoman said.
“We have received a request from the Ukrainian side in recent days,” the ministry spokeswoman told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency on Saturday.
The missiles requested have a range of over 500 kilometers (310 miles), which would make it possible for Ukraine to strike Russian territory.
Kyiv’s allies have so far been cautious about providing arms to Ukraine that could reach Russia.
On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated that weapons supplied by Germany to Ukraine are not to be used to strike Russian soil.
“Russia attacked Ukraine, and that’s why Ukraine can defend itself,” Scholz said while visiting the Estonian capital Tallinn. “And at the same time it is clear that the weapons we supplied will only be used on Ukrainian territory,” he stressed.
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