Germany still refuses to send long-range missiles to Ukraine – Britain’s attitude and Russian threats

American President Joe Biden’s decision to allow it to hit with long-range missiles has provoked global reactions. Apart from the US, France and Britain have delivered to Ukraine long-range Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles, whose range exceeds 250 km with London however not answering if they can be used in a hit within Russia. On the other hand, the government in Germany reiterated today (18/11/2024) that it is not going to deliver long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, although the US has given Kiev the green light to use similar, American weapons against Russia. However, Berlin intends to give Ukraine 4,000 state-of-the-art drones. Taurus rockets could not be used unless Germany partially assumed responsibility for controlling the targets, which would make it a de facto part of the war, German Chancellor Olaf Salts said at a press conference that he granted on the margins of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. “This is something I cannot and do not want to take responsibility for,” he stressed, repeating that “it would not be right” to deliver such missiles to Kiev. Salts has been refusing to deliver Taurus missiles for months, which have a range of over 500 km, citing the risk of escalation between Russia and the West. Earlier today (18/11/2024) German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Berlin would deliver 4,000 advanced, unmanned aircraft to Ukraine. (Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Dickson/U.S. Army via AP) “It is drones that can disable the electronic defense of drone opponents”, they have the ability to act in depth “30, 40 km” within Russian territory and “attack combat positions, curatorial nodes and other targets,” he said. These drones are manufactured by Helsing, a European company specializing in defensive artificial intelligence and which entered into a contract with the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine in September, according to the Bild newspaper. “Sphinx” Britain Britain Britain’s Prime Minister Kir Starmer avoided stating today (18/11/2024) whether his country would allow Ukraine to use British long-range Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets within Russian territory, in an interview granted to British media, from Brazil where it is for the G20 summit. “I will obviously not go into operational details because if we did this, the only winner would be Vladimir Putin,” he replied to reporters who asked him about the issue. “We should double efforts and ensure that Ukraine has everything it needs for as long as it is needed, because we cannot allow (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to win this war,” the British Prime Minister stressed. Stefan Rousseau/Pol via REUTERS When asked today in the British Parliament, Defence Minister John Healy also avoided answering, saying he does not want “to endanger operational security”. From Rio de Janeiro, Starmer confirmed in British PME that he “has not spoken with Russia” and “does not intend to do so”, a few days after German chancellor Olaf Salts telephoned with Putin. “Tomorrow is the thousandth day of war, namely a thousand days of aggression on the part of Russia and a thousand days of sacrifice on the part of Ukraine. My message is clear: this is issue number 1 on my agenda,” he stressed. Biden calls on Ukraine’s support Earlier, US president Joe Biden called on G20 countries to support Ukraine’s “national sovereignty”. The Kremlin on his part accused Washington of “continues pouring oil on fire and causing new tensions”. It is recalled that Biden first lit the “green light” for Ukraine’s use of long-range American missiles aimed at Russia’s interior. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Russia threatens with radical escalation if hit with long-range missiles Use of long-range missiles from Ukraine to attack Russian territory, with the support of the US and allies, will mark a radical escalation of the conflict, Russia’s foreign ministry said. The ministry said such an action would fundamentally change the nature of the war and cause “an adequate and tangible” response from Russia. “We will not be caught unprepared – We have an answer and it will be immediate” Russian officials underestimated the importance of Joe Biden’s initiative, while countries such as Poland argued that ballistic missiles would have a decisive role in the development of the war on Ukraine. Andrei Kartapolov, the chairman of the defence committee of the lower House of the Russian parliament, said today (18.11.2024) to the RIA Novosti news agency, that ATACMS would not affect anything on the course of the operation, absolutely nothing and added that Russian forces will continue to fulfill their missions. MAXIM SHIPENKOV/Pool via REUTERS “This factor will certainly be taken into account, but the objectives set by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine will be achieved,” he continued. He also explained that Russia has the response to the interception and response of ATACMS missiles, saying that we should “block the take-off of aircraft”. “We actively focus on this, targeting the airport infrastructure intensively. This is priority as if an aircraft cannot take off, the rocket will not be launched,” he stressed.