A "very irritated" German Chancellor Scholz explains why he continues to oppose Taurus deliveries to Ukraine - even after the Bundestag voted in favor of a recommendation to provide Ukraine with "long-range weapons".

Scholz said in Berlin that he does not want a situation to arise in which German expertise is used directly for the aquisition of Russian targets.

"We must not be linked to the targets that this system reaches at any point and in any place," said Scholz.

Scholz is concerned that if Germans were involved in target aquisition, rather than simply weapons supply, then this would make Germany a party to the war.

Counter-arguments have been made that Germany can train Ukrainians, who have demonstrated their technical aptitude on numerous occasions, how to operate the system independently, which would limit Germany's role to remain as a supplier of weapons and training, rather than a direct participant in the war.

Scholz has previously expressed concerns about the system being used by Ukraine to strike targets in Russia, which could "escalate" the conflict.

A number of counter-arguments have been made to this position. Ukraine has on many occasions shown how reliable they are to stick to agreements made with partners in the west to only use weapons within Ukrainian borders. A strike using Taurus in Crimea would be completely within the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine - a fully legitimate strike on its own
territory.

Further, the war launched by Russia is already an all-out war, where Putin has already stated that he is in an existential war against the West, that the true enemy of his country is the West rather than Ukraine itself.

Former NATO commander, retired General Wesley Clark, made the point in a recent interview by DW, that western countries needs to recognise the "inconvenient fact" that Russia believes it is at war against the West.

Scholz said that he was "very irritated" by "the lack of balance between what is really needed now and the debate about this one system".

It is certainly true that artillery ammunition is urgently needed by Ukraine, but not only. Retired General Wesley Clark explained that Ukraine "certainly need long range weapons" and that "they need not only the Taurus missile, but also other ballistic missiles".

President Zelensky made the following statement on Sunday: "Taurus missiles are very important to us. But the order of action is as follows: first the United States, then Germany".

What could be interpreted from this statement, is that Zelensky believes that if the US provides longer range (300 km) ATACMS or other long range missiles, then Germany would be willing to supply Taurus.

In other words, Scholz could be waiting for the US to provide the leadership and risk coverage of providing longer range missiles, rather than Berlin taking the leadership.

This conclusion could also be read into an answer provided today by a representative of the press service of the German government, who said: "German Chancellor Scholz will make a statement about the possible transfer of TAURUS missiles to Ukraine at the 'appropriate time'".

The "appropriate time" for Scholz appears to be "awaiting US leadership", something which is currently lacking, with support for Ukraine blocked in the US Congress.

This is not the time for Europe to appear weak. Leadership and concrete actions are needed!