Germany still refuses to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, but the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Burbok, has said she is open to a deal in which London supplies Kiev with additional Storm Shadow missiles and Berlin replenishes Britain’s stockpile of long-range missiles in return. , informs Independent Kyiv.

Burbock’s statement was made after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed the idea of ​​a so-called “ring exchange” in an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on March 8.

“Exchanging rings is, so to speak, a German invention. That would be an option. And we already did this with other equipment some time ago,” Burbock told German public broadcaster ARD on March 10.

Such a mode of arms transfer already took place some time ago in order to avoid direct arming of Ukraine, the minister noted.

Baerbock seems to mean tanks. We will remind you that Berlin refused to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine for a long time, instead the country supplied battle tanks and other heavy military equipment not directly to Ukraine, but to NATO partner countries. And these states supplied weapons to Ukraine from their older stockpiles. Finally, Germany agreed to send this type of tanks.

Taurus missiles, which have a range of up to 500 kilometers, have been the subject of much debate since Ukraine submitted a request for such missiles in 2023.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appears to be against sending Taurus missiles to Kyiv, as he fears the move would draw Germany into the war. Ukraine also received other long-range missiles, such as the British Storm Shadow and the French SCALP.

Great Britain insists that Germany supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles

British officials have repeatedly told Germany that Ukraine desperately needs long-range missiles, Bloomberg reports.

British Foreign Minister David Cameron announced this last weekthat it is a “sovereign decision of each country”, but the weapons provided by the UK have helped Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russian forces.

“You get peace through strength, you get peace by proving Putin can’t win, you get peace by helping Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield,” he said.

Cameron also touched on the topic of warnings about the “escalation” of the war in Ukraine, once again stressing that the supply of new types of weapons did not lead to this.

“If what you are doing is helping the country defend itself against illegal and completely unjustified aggression, then there is nothing stopping you from helping Ukraine regain its territory,” he added.

Annalena Burbok does not approve of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s refusal to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine

In fact, Politico wrote that Annalena Berbock called on the head of the government she is a part of, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to “intensely consider” supplying Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

“The elements are very, very clear,” Berbock said, assessing that Germany should consider sending “all the materials” Ukraine needs to help it defend its territory and protect its population in a war with Russia.

Germany’s Social Democrat chancellor is under intense pressure from both his government partners, the Greens led by Annalena Berbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s liberals, and the Christian Democratic opposition to provide Kyiv with Taurus missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers and with the help of which the Ukrainian army could hit targets far behind Russian lines.

According to talks between the German military, intercepted and published by Russia, the modifications made by the British military to the Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian army to launch Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles also allow the use of Taurus missiles.