The lower house of the German parliament (Bundestag) voted in favor of a draft resolution presented by factions of the ruling coalition on the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine to destroy strategic targets in the Russian rear. The vote that took place after the debate was broadcast on the website of the German parliament.
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“382 voted in favor, 284 voted against, two abstained,” said the chairman of the Bundestag.
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The resolution of the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Free Liberals (FDP) and the Greens is an alternative to the previously rejected document of the faction of the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions (CDU/CSU), directly calling on the German government to start supplies to Ukraine Taurus cruise missiles.
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These weapons are not mentioned in the adopted draft resolution, but the document contains a call from coalition factions to the Cabinet of Ministers to begin supplying Ukraine with long-range systems to destroy strategic targets in the Russian rear.
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The main point of contention regarding the supply of Taurus remains the missile’s range of 500 kilometers. Until now, Germany has fundamentally not supplied Kiev weapons with such characteristics. The German expert community discussed whether the missiles could be programmed so that they could not be used to strike Russian territory. According to Der Spiegel, it was this issue that interested Scholz and therefore negotiations were allegedly held with representatives of the military industry.
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In January, the German publication Handelsblatt reported, citing senior diplomats and government officials, that Britain had offered to sell Germany Taurus cruise missiles so that London could supply more Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. Later, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that he knew nothing about this proposal.
