Bundestag MP: SPD must abandon blocking possible Taurus supply to Ukraine

Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee from the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), has called on the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) to stop blocking the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Deutschlandfunk reported on Friday.

"The CDU/CSU coalition partner must move," Kiesewetter said on the radio. "Otherwise, Chancellor Merz, who repeatedly called for the supply of Taurus during his tenure as opposition leader, will also have problems with his own credibility."

Kiesewetter stressed that the start of training Ukrainian soldiers on cruise missiles would be a political signal to Russia that the German government is serious and will provide "everything it is capable of."

Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously reportedly said that the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles was "quite possible." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that he had spoken to Merz about it.