Zelenskyy seeks German Taurus missiles to strike Russian launch sites
Ukraine wants to order and test Taurus missiles to destroy Russian missile launchers, a proposal Zelenskyy says would also benefit German arms manufacturers.
By Hassan Okoye ·
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for Ukraine to be able to order Taurus missiles from Germany, saying the weapons are needed to destroy launchers Russia uses to attack Ukrainian cities. He argued that supplying and testing the missiles would offer advantages to both countries.
Speaking to German broadcaster ZDF in an interview reported by European Pravda, Zelenskyy linked the request to Ukraine's difficulties obtaining missiles for air defence. With the United States unable to supply anti-ballistic missiles, he said, Ukraine's only remaining option was to destroy the Russian launchers used to fire the weapons.
Zelenskyy described Russia as having established entire launch sites from which it carries out deadly attacks. He stressed that the targets Ukraine wanted to strike were missile launch facilities, rather than civilian targets, infrastructure or energy facilities. His appeal presented Taurus missiles as a means of attacking the equipment behind those strikes.
The Ukrainian president said the proposal involved both ordering the German missiles and testing them in combat. He argued that foreign weapons manufacturers could use battlefield experience to assess their products, while also gaining valuable publicity. In his account, the benefits of such an arrangement would therefore extend beyond Ukraine's immediate military needs.
To support that argument, Zelenskyy pointed to Ukraine's experience with the IRIS-T air defence system. He credited its use in Ukraine with making it the world's leading system after Patriot, which he described as an anti-ballistic system. He also said Ukraine had helped manufacturers identify and resolve weaknesses in their defence equipment.
Zelenskyy maintained that actual warfare provides the conditions needed to fully address a defence system's shortcomings. Discussing IRIS-T, he cited prices ranging from about US$600,000 to around US$1 million or US$1.5 million. He attributed the changes to the war and said missile costs had increased severalfold, in some cases by tens of times. Germany, he added, now had orders stretching 10 to 20 years ahead.
The request comes against the position expressed by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who has said he does not regard supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine as necessary.
Separately, European Pravda reported that 500 Patriot missiles approved for sale by the United States are not expected to reach Ukraine until between the fourth quarter of 2030 and the fourth quarter of 2033.
