Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated that Kyiv will continue pressing Germany to supply long-range Taurus cruise missiles. He argues that delivering the weapons would benefit both Ukraine and Germany by allowing Berlin to assess their performance under real combat conditions.
According to Zelensky, Ukrainian forces could use Taurus missiles to destroy Russian missile launchers. He also pledged that the German-made weapons would not be used to strike civilian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian president cited Germany’s IRIS-T air defense systems as an example of successful military cooperation. He claimed that their deployment in Ukraine had helped establish them as one of the world’s most prominent air defense systems, second only to the American Patriot. Zelensky also said demand for IRIS-T systems had increased significantly, with German manufacturers facing order backlogs stretching 10 to 20 years and missile prices rising severalfold.
Zelensky believes Germany could achieve similar international recognition for the Taurus missile through its deployment in Ukraine, gaining valuable combat performance data and greater visibility in the global defense market.
Kyiv has been seeking Taurus missiles for several years. The German cruise missile has a range of up to 500 kilometers, but Berlin has so far refused to authorize deliveries to Ukraine.