Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision not to deliver Taurus cruise missiles for the time being has met with strong criticism from Roderich Kiesewetter, a CDU defense politician. Kiesewetter expressed clear concerns to the German Press Agency. “By canceling the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles and delaying any planning since May, Germany is once again taking a special approach. “This means we are losing trust in Europe and the USA and are irritating our partners, especially Great Britain and France, who already supply similar cruise missiles,” he emphasized.

The long-range and precise weapon systems are essential for Ukraine to effectively prevent the Russian supply routes to Crimea, through which a significant proportion of Russian supplies come. Kiesewetter argues that liberating Crimea would put Ukraine in a stronger position. “This could potentially end the war more quickly and with less bloodshed.”

Additional pressure from Röttgen

Critical tones were also struck by Norbert Röttgen, the CDU foreign policy expert, who strongly attacked the traffic light government. “Following the Chancellor here is a collective failure of the traffic light and responsibility for the consequences falls on the entire traffic light,” he was quoted in the “Bild” newspaper (Friday). He also referred to high-ranking politicians such as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (both Greens), Finance Minister Christian Lindner as FDP leader and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), and described the decision as a serious loss of credibility.

Scholz is trying to avoid escalation

Scholz justified his decision on Thursday by saying he wanted to prevent the war from escalating. “This particularly includes the fact that we must, of course, ensure that there is no escalation of the war and that Germany does not become part of the conflict,” he emphasized after a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on the sidelines of the European Summit in Granada. He also underlined the need to take the constitution and Germany’s room for maneuver into account when supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Putin rejoices – His nuclear “petrel” supposedly passes its final test.