Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
He warned that it would bring Germany at a direct armed conflict with Russia.
He warned that it would bring Germany at a direct armed conflict with Russia.
What is happening?
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has issued a direct threat to Germany, that if the European nation supplies Ukraine with Taurus cruise-missiles, Russia would consider Germany directly involved in the war.
“What is this?”
According to Reuters, Putin talked to senior news agency editors Thursday and said:
“What is this, if not the involvement of the Federal Republic in a direct armed conflict with the Russian Federation? It can’t be called anything else,”
Would need German officers
According to Putin, Ukraine would need both Western satellite Intelligence as well as German officers to take care of targeting the missiles.
This, Putin said, would mean that, if the missiles were fired at Russia, German officers had attacked Russian territory.
Would have no impact on the outcome
Putin also said that if Germany was to supply Ukraine with Taurus-missiles, it would not have any impact on the course of the war, claiming Russian troops to be advancing all along the frontline.
Not neutral, but open to talk
Putin added that, even though Moscow does not concider Germany a neutral state in the ongoing war in Ukraine, Putin is ready to talk, if German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was to grab the phone and call the Russian President.
Taurus delivery not on the table
Earlier this month, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine is not on the table.
500+ km range
The Taurus KEPD-350[a] is a German-Swedish air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by Taurus Systems and used by Germany, Spain, and South Korea.
It has an operational range in excess of 500 kilometres (310 miles).