German opposition against replacing Taurus missiles with Storm Shadows to arm Ukraine

Germany’s CDU/CSU, a centre-right Christian democratic political alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, has opposed the UK’s proposal to replace German-made Taurus missiles with UK-made Storm Shadows in order to be able to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons.

Source: DW; European Pravda

Details: Johann Wadephul, Deputy Head of CDU/CSU, told Rheinische Post that Ukraine’s allies had to do everything they could to prevent Ukraine’s defeat, including by supplying “the best weapons systems, and Taurus is one of those systems”.

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“No circular exchange can replace it in terms of range, accuracy and destructive power,” Wadephul said.

Background:

• Earlier, Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder, heads of the CDU and the CSU, respectively, called for supplying Taurus missile systems to Ukraine.
• Anton Hofreiter, a member of the German Bundestag from the Green Party, has supported a UK proposal to swap German-made Taurus missiles for British Storm Shadows as a way of providing Ukraine with long-range weapons.
• Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron suggested that Germany swap Taurus missiles for British Storm Shadows so that Ukraine can be provided with long-range weapons.
• The German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on this proposal in January. However, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time that he was unaware of any British proposal to exchange missiles.

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