German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has criticised the debate in recent weeks about German support for Ukraine and the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles in particular.

“The debate in Germany is nothing short of ridiculous. This is embarrassing for us as a country. The discussion is not understood outside of Germany,” the chancellor said Tuesday at the Europe 2024 conference in Berlin.

He pointed out that Germany was Ukraine’s second-largest arms supplier. This must first be recognised, he said.

Mr Scholz has repeatedly spoken out against the delivery of the long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite pleas from Kyiv, saying it has the potential to escalate the conflict and drag Germany into the war.

The chancellor has faced sharp criticism from the conservative opposition bloc CDU/CSU and his coalition partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP).

The debate has been going on for more than three weeks now.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the debate about the Taurus missiles overshadowed Ukraine’s essential defence needs.

“Sufficient artillery ammunition, longer-range missile artillery and air defence are the truly existential issues,” the minister said.

According to him, the unity of the governing coalition and the governing factions in their support for Ukraine is unbroken.

However, he said the Taurus debate could be damaging, “This discussion has been carried to extremes for months. There was no need to get to the point of ruling it out once and for all.

“However, I believe that it must be clear that support for Ukraine in other areas is more important.” 

(dpa/NAN)