Don’t toy with Germans’ lives, left-wing MP tells colleagues

Potential delivery of German-made Taurus missiles to Kiev could undermine Berlin’s own security, Sahra Wagenknecht says

Lawmakers across the German political spectrum who are considering delivering long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine should realize that this would put the lives of millions of Germans on the line, veteran left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht has argued. The MP also pointed out to colleagues that this weapon cannot change the course of the Ukraine conflict.

Kiev has for months been requesting Berlin to supply it with the rockets, with Chancellor Scholz, however, repeatedly ruling out such a possibility. He has explained that Taurus’ long range would enable Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russian territory, increasing the potential for further escalation. Scholz has also said supply of these missiles, which are made in Germany, would inevitably imply the presence of Bundeswehr troops on Ukrainian soil – a scenario that is “out of the question.”

While the German parliament did vote against arming Kiev with the missiles on Thursday, critics from the opposition as well as from within the ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition have urged Chancellor Scholz to lift the self-imposed prohibition.

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Addressing her colleagues in the Bundestag before the vote, Wagenknecht claimed that the “whole world outside of the German political bubble knows that Ukraine can’t win this war.”

“Taurus [cruise missiles] would not change anything at all there, the only [thing this] would change is that Germany would definitely become a party to the war in Russia’s eyes,” she explained.

According to the politician, who is also the leader of her party, what proponents of Taurus missile deliveries to Kiev are “carelessly toying with here is the security and, in the worst case, the lives of millions of people in Germany.”

Wagenknecht, who made a name for herself in German politics as one of the leaders of the Left party before leaving it last October, described as scandalous the fact that “German air force officers calmly debate how one can destroy Russian targets with German cruise missiles.” The MP was apparently referring to a leaked conversation between several German top brass made public by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan earlier this month.

In the audio, whose authenticity was later confirmed by the German Defense Ministry, the officers theorized about a Ukrainian strike on the Crimean Bridge with the help of Taurus missiles.

Wagenknecht has been a vocal critic of Scholz’s policies toward Russia over the Ukraine conflict since the start of hostilities in February 2022.