(Bloomberg) -- Most German lawmakers want the country to supply Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles, according to former Deputy Finance Minister Florian Toncar.
“The majority of current members of parliament in Germany and even part of the German government, except Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are supportive,” Toncar, an FDP politician who lost his job when his party was kicked out of the government earlier this month, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
This week’s decision by US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to use its longer-range ATACMS rockets against Russia didn’t prompt Scholz to drop his opposition to supplying the government in Kyiv with similar missiles. That’s a mistake, according to Toncar.
“We want to be in line with our closest allies,” he said in Berlin. “Their position has changed, so should I think also the German position” should change.
The US decision was justified by Vladimir Putin’s move to use North Korean soldiers in his war against Ukraine.
“We need to accept that only firmness and strength is respected ultimately by Mr. Putin,” Toncar said, adding that Russia is conducting psychological warfare and sabotage against Europe. “He is testing our willingness to to be firm on the issue. And so I think we should be.”
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