German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ruled out the possibility of his country providing Ukraine with long-range precision weapons, regardless of decisions made by NATO allies. According to him, the provision of German "Taurus" cruise missiles to Kiev will lead to a high risk of escalation of the conflict.

The Taurus missiles have a range of about 500 kilometers and could be used to attack Moscow from Ukrainian territory.

I said no, stressed Scholz, adding that this also applies to other weapons.

He indicated that he would not change his position even if other countries decided to act differently.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is asking Ukraine's allies to provide it with long-range weapons so it can attack Russian logistics and military airfields located far behind the front lines, even on Russian territory.

The longest-range weapon that Germany has so far sent to Kiev is the Mars II missile launcher, which can hit targets at a distance of 84 kilometers. The United States, Great Britain and France have sent cruise missiles to Ukraine with a range of up to 300 kilometers.