"Would be entry into war"

Russian parliament warns against Taurus delivery

The State Duma published an appeal to the German government.(Bild: APA/AFP/Alexander NEMENOV)

Ahead of the new vote on the delivery of Taurus missiles to the Ukraine, the tone in the German coalition is becoming more heated. On Tuesday, SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich demanded that the coalition partners FDP and Greens impose consequences on MPs who support a motion by the opposition CDU/CSU for the provision of the cruise missiles. Meanwhile, the Russian parliament is warning against a further escalation of the military conflict.

Such developments could lead to Germany entering the war and the Bundestag must counteract this, according to an appeal published by the State Duma in Moscow on Tuesday. Germany had committed itself in the "Two Plus Four Treaty" of 1990 "that only peace will emanate from German soil". 

Horror among the Russian population
In contrast, the recently published conversation between German officers and the German air force inspector Ingo Gerhartz on a possible Taurus deployment against Russian targets shows that there is a danger here. Russia had published the intercepted conversation, causing massive horror among the population in its own country. 

The Taurus cruise missile is the German-Swedish counterpart to the British Storm Shadow missiles, which are already being delivered to Kiev.(Bild: AFP)

"In the tradition of Hitler's Luftwaffe"
"In the tradition of Hitler's Luftwaffe", the military commander is "only thinking about how he can conceal the complicity of the German armed forces in the planned crimes of the Kiev regime", according to the unanimously adopted declaration. It is not about "possible victims among the Russian civilian population and the humanitarian consequences of the destruction of the Crimean bridge" for the millions of inhabitants of the peninsula, but only about how the accusations against Germans could be avoided.

The State Duma published an appeal to the German government.(Bild: APA/AFP/Alexander NEMENOV)

On Thursday, the Bundestag will vote on the Union's motion by roll call. The leaders of the FDP and the Greens confirmed on Tuesday that their parliamentary groups are in favor of a delivery of Taurus. Nevertheless, they refused to vote in favor of the Union's motion because they consider it to be a tactical game. Ukraine had applied for the delivery of the cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers in May last year. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) rejected it because he feared that it would drag Germany into the war.