Berlin says Ukraine no longer needs German-made Taurus missiles

Germany is not considering delivering long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, as Kyiv no longer needs these weapons in the war against Russia, the German defense minister said on Sunday.

“I do not believe Ukraine needs the Taurus anymore,” Boris Pistorius said in an exclusive interview with Bild newspaper, adding that Ukraine was already achieving its goals using domestically developed weapons.

“It is demonstrating this very impressively through the use of long-range drones, cruise missiles, and other systems,” Pistorius said. “They are currently proving that efficiency and striking power—inflicting serious damage on Russian infrastructure.”

Ukraine has repeatedly requested the precision-guided Taurus missiles, which have a range of more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) and are capable of striking heavily fortified targets such as bridges and underground command bunkers. Berlin has consistently resisted the requests, fearing the weapons could be used to hit targets deep inside Russia and could lead to Germany becoming directly involved in the conflict.