CDU Chairman Friedrich Merz would not deliver the Taurus missile system to Ukraine alone, but only in close coordination with the upcoming US government and European allies, he told the Bild newspaper in an interview after his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev..
The training of Ukrainian soldiers on the system would take at least four months, Merz said. “I would propose that we answer these questions together with the Americans. Not alone, not in Germany, but with Europe and America together” he emphasized, as he would offer the system to Ukraine as Chancellor.
Merz acknowledged that he had no feeling for what might happen in January and February of next year. “Trump seems determined to do something. But what exactly he will do, with what means he will do it – possibly even with the threat of a massive military build-up in Ukraine, if Russia does not stop the war – is completely open” he said.
Merz doubted that a weapons system alone could fundamentally change the situation in the Ukraine war: “There are probably no such weapons or wonder weapons.” He instead advocated for a strategic agreement between Europeans and the US, which would enable the Ukrainian army to attack military targets just behind the Ukrainian-Russian border, from where civilian targets in Ukraine are being attacked.
As Chancellor, Merz would first tell Russian President Vladimir Putin: “What I say here is not just my personal opinion, but a coordinated opinion of the essential European partners, especially the Poles, the French, and the British. And he should not count on dividing us. And do not underestimate our willingness to defend our freedom, not.