Kiev's Mayor Vitali Klitschko has praised German military aid so far, but said it was now time for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to finally send Ukraine long-range missiles.
In a recent interview with dpa, Klitschko said that "one of the most important questions" for his country was whether Germany would supply the requested Taurus cruise missiles.
"We are defending our country. And that's why we need Taurus. We can use it to destroy the Russians' military logistics," he said. He said he ultimately expects a positive decision from the German government.
Ukraine requested the Taurus cruise missiles, which are highly accurate and have a range of 500 kilometres, from the German government in May last year. It wants to use them to hit Russian positions and material stores far behind the front line.
"Germany has finally woken up and is helping us a lot," Klitschko said of Scholz's early reticence to send other powerful weapons to Ukraine.
But the chancellor has so far blocked Taurus deliveries to Ukraine, reportedly out of concern that the highly capable weapon might be used by Ukrainian forces to strike sensitive Russian targets and thereby escalate tensions between Germany and Russia.
Klitschko, a former boxing world champion, also appealed to all other allies to continue to stand by Ukraine.
He described the impasse in the US Congress regarding the authorization of further military aid for Ukraine as a "huge threat to democracy."
"We must not lose. Because otherwise the whole democratic world will lose."
