The Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Mertz, who is expected to become the Prime Minister in the new government formed in Germany, said that Germany in coordination with European partners can provide Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.
In the statement of the ARD public broadcasting company, Mertz said that the Ukrainian army must stop defending: “It is only reacting. (Ukraine) should determine part of the events.”
The question of whether his previous statements are relevant that Ukraine should be provided with Taurus cruise missiles, Mertz replied: “Yes, I said exactly what I had in mind.”
Merts emphasized that he would do this only in coordination with European partners: “European partners are already supplying winged missiles. The British are doing this, the French are doing this, the Americans are already doing this. It should be coordinated, and if it is coordinated, then Germany should also take part in this.”
Mertz touched Russia’s attack on the city of Sumy in Ukraine, calling it a “serious war crime.”
“there were two waves of attacks, and the second fell at the time when humanitarian workers tried to help the victims. This is a serious war crime committed deliberately and consciously,” he stressed.
German Chancellor Olaf Sholts, who is in power in the country for about 3.5 years, refused to provide Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.
It is expected that he will transfer the authority of the Chancellor at the beginning of May.