After the coalition's collapse in Germany and the election of a new chancellor, Ukraine has a strong chance of acquiring long-range Taurus missiles, although it will take time. This opinion was expressed in an interview with "Radio Liberty" by Andrey Melnyk, who previously served as Ukraine's ambassador to Germany and is now Ukraine's ambassador to Brazil.
He believes that Ukraine will receive "Taurus" missiles, as the likely future chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, has mentioned this repeatedly.
"I cannot imagine any scenario where this coalition, even if the Social Democrats become the 'junior partner', would block this. But again, it's a matter of time," he noted.
As Melnyk explained, elections in Germany will be held on February 23, and coalition negotiations will take at least two months, possibly longer. This means that the current government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz will continue to fulfill its duties until a new coalition agreement is reached and voted on in parliament, which is unlikely to happen before the end of April in an optimistic scenario, he pointed out.
"So this means that for the upcoming almost six months, probably nothing will happen... By the end of April at best, we will hopefully see these 'Taurus', and that will be a huge relief for us," Melnyk stated.
Taurus Missiles for Ukraine
As reported by UNIAN, during the G20 summit in Brazil, Scholz stated that he has not changed his position regarding the transfer of German Taurus missiles to Ukraine. He added that Berlin made an exception and allowed the use of German weapons along the Russian border for the defense of Kharkiv; however, this decision does not alter his fundamental principles.
At the same time, the leader of the German opposition, Friedrich Merz, claimed that Germany is not doing enough to assist Ukraine. He proposed issuing an ultimatum to Moscow: if Russia does not stop shelling civilians within a day, Germany will lift the limits on the range of weapons already provided. If this is insufficient, Ukraine will receive Taurus missiles within a week.