US hopes that provision of ATACMS to Ukraine will push Berlin to decision on Taurus - mass media
The US wants the transfer of ATACMS to Ukraine to encourage Germany to provide Kyiv with a Taurus.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to European Pravda.
It is noted that this was stated by an unnamed senior US defense official.
He also noted that the decision to provide Taurus to Ukraine should be made by Germany.
Read: "A few days, if not earlier": Pentagon tells when Ukraine will receive first batch of arms
"But certainly the provision of the ATACMS system by the United States, as well as previous decisions by the UK and France to provide long-range cruise missiles - we certainly hope that will be a factor," he stressed.
Ukraine has long asked Germany to provide Taurus missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers. But Berlin has refused to do so, fearing an escalation of the conflict
What is Taurus?
The Taurus is a German-Swedish air-to-surface cruise missile manufactured by Taurus Systems and used by Germany, Spain, and South Korea. The missile weighs about 1,400 kilograms (of which 480 kilograms is the weight of the warhead) and has a range of over 500 kilometers.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly refused to transfer the Taurus to Ukraine, despite numerous requests from Kyiv and pressure from partners and his own parliament.
Recently, he reiterated that he was not going to change his decision not to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles.
