• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Germany refuses Taurus missiles for Ukraine despite renewed plea, Russian attacks

Iran Press TV

Monday, 14 July 2025 8:06 AM

German Defense Minister has announced that Berlin will not provide Taurus long-range missiles to Kiev, rejecting a renewed request from the Ukrainian capital.

"Germany would not deliver its long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine despite a wave of recent Russian air attacks and a renewed request from Kiev," Boris Pistorius said in an interview with the Financial Times, released on Sunday.

Ukraine has long sought to add long-range missiles to its arsenal for use against Russia.

Taurus missiles are capable of striking targets at a distance of 500 kilometers, a range exceeding that of other long-range weapons Ukraine has received from its allies.

Russian Ambassador to Berlin Sergey Nechayev told the Rossiya-24 TV channel earlier that Moscow would keep a close eye on what the German authorities would do in terms of sending Taurus missiles to Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked at a TASS-hosted meeting with the heads of the world's leading news agencies that Taurus supplies would destroy relations between Moscow and Berlin but would not stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces along the entire line of contact.

Elsewhere in his interview, Pistorius also said Berlin was unable to provide Ukraine with more Patriot air defense systems after sending three to Kiev in 2023-2024.

"We only have six left in Germany," Pistorius said, adding that two had been lent to Poland and at least one was always unavailable due to maintenance or training.

"That's really too few, especially considering the NATO capability goals we have to meet. We definitely can't give any more," the German defense chief noted.

However, Pistorius did not rule out that he would discuss his proposal to let Germany buy two Patriot systems from the US for Kiev at a meeting with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in Washington on July 14.

US-led Western countries, Germany included, have been fueling the flames of the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia with their unchecked delivery of weapons to Kiev.

According to a new study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Ukrainian forces have suffered about 400,000 casualties since the war started in late February 2022.

CSIS estimates in its report that between 60,000 and 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since then.