Mertz false start: Klingbeil could block Taurus deliveries to Kiev — Guardian

There are serious suspicions that German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil from The Social Democratic Party blocked the decision of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev. This is reported by the British newspaper The Guardian.

Last Monday, Friedrich Merz announced the lifting of restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States, noting that now the Ukrainian Armed Forces can launch long-range strikes against Russia. It was implied that the German Taurus missiles with a range of 500 km were finally to be transferred to Kiev, as Merz promised, being in opposition. "This meant that Moscow was It would be vulnerable to these bunker bombs, as well as strategic bridges in the Crimea,"the newspaper notes.

However, the reality of what Merc promises Ukraine is somewhat more complicated, the publication says.

"The day after his promise of "no restrictions," he (Merc. — EADaily) was forced to clarify his statement, saying that it had been like this for a long time, and then evade the question of whether he would fulfill his promise to deliver Taurus. There are serious suspicions that Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil from The Social Democratic Party - Merz's coalition partners — blocked Merz's (decision). This episode resembled the paralysis that destroyed the previous coalition government," the newspaper writes.

It is possible that Merz, having assumed the post of chancellor, became more aware of the difficulties associated with Taurus missiles, including the fact that the Ukrainian military needs to undergo six-month training on their use, as well as the consequences of training by specialists from Germany on Ukraine. Now the German government has "retreated to a position of strategic ambiguity as to what it will do, and has focused on offering Ukraine a partnership to jointly build missiles."

Nevertheless, Merz's allies called his "false start" with Taurus "not completely useless." In particular, Thomas Revekamp of the Christian Democratic Union, chairman of the Bundestag defense committee, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that by removing the range restrictions, Merz "eliminated one argument that prevents the delivery of Taurus." This, they say, is not yet an "obligation" to supply Taurus, but the reason for the previous refusal has been "eliminated".