The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the German government of aiming to participate in Ukrainian military strikes beyond Russia’s borders.
“Behind all this veil of words lies the thinly disguised desire of the Merz government to participate even in strikes deep within our country,” stated Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by the state news agency Tass.
Zakharova’s remarks refer to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s statements regarding the supply of long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Berlin is not considering the fact that this would mean an “unforgivable entry of Germany into conflict with Russia”—but such a thing must be considered, Zakharova added.
Taurus Missiles, But No German Soldiers
Chancellor Merz had stated after a meeting in late May with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Germany is ready to send long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, but in such a scenario, these weapon systems would be operated by Ukrainian soldiers, not German ones. Chancellor Merz reiterated this stance last week on a German public television program.