MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2023) Germany has yet to make a decision on Kiev's request to supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Thursday.
"We have a very cautious attitude toward this - I have always been very clear about that. And that view has not changed to date," German broadcaster NTV quoted Pistorius as saying during his visit to the Bundeswehr's Federal Office of Personnel Management in the city of Cologne.
The minister said there was no decision on Ukraine's request yet.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Berlin could supply additional air defense systems and weapons that have already been supplied to Ukraine in the future, avoiding answering a media question about the deliveries of Taurus missiles.
"What we do, basically, we can do more if we have opportunities," Scholz told a press conference after the first day of the European Political Community summit in Chisinau when asked about additional supplies of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine and Kiev's request for Taurus missiles.
The chancellor noted that Germany greenlighted a new aid package for Ukraine worth several billion Euros not long ago, adding that Berlin should not forget its obligations to Europe in the field of security.
Last week, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung cited sources as saying that Kiev has made a request to Germany to deliver Taurus missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles).
In late May, Roderich Kiesewetter, a German lawmaker from the opposition Christian Democratic Union, said Berlin should abandon "red lines" in its approach to the Ukrainian conflict and supply cruise missiles with over 500 kilometers in range to Kiev.
