German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply criticized the debate in recent weeks about German support for Ukraine and the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles in particular.
"The debate in Germany is nothing short of ridiculous," the chancellor said on Tuesday at the Europe 2024 conference in Berlin.
"This is embarrassing for us as a country." The discussion is not understood outside of Germany, Scholz said. He pointed out that Germany is Ukraine's second-largest arms supplier. This must first be recognized, he said.
Scholz has repeatedly spoken out against the delivery of the long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite pleas from Kiev, saying it has the potential to escalate the conflict and drag Germany into the war.
The chancellor has faced sharp criticism from the conservative opposition bloc CDU/CSU as well as from his coalition partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP). The debate has been going on for more than three weeks now.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the debate about the Taurus missiles overshadows Ukraine's essential defence needs.
Sufficient artillery ammunition, longer-range missile artillery and air defence are the truly existential issues, the minister said on broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday morning.
According to him, the unity of both the governing coalition and the governing factions in their support for Ukraine is unbroken.
However, he said the Taurus debate could be damaging: "This discussion has been carried to extremes for months."
"There was no need to get to the point of ruling it out once and for all. However, I believe that it must be clear that support for Ukraine in other areas is more important," Pistorius said.
