News - Middle East: Two years into the war between Russia and Ukraine, German lawmakers have voted against a motion proposed by the opposition to supply Kiev with long-range Taurus missiles.

German legislators on Thursday supported giving further support to the ex-Soviet republic but refused to back an opposition-drafted motion to arm the war-ravaged country with German-Swedish air-launched cruise missiles.
Launched from a fighter jet, the Taurus missile can deliver a warhead weighing nearly half a ton, roughly the same as UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, against a fortified target up to 310 miles (about 500 kilometers) away.
The missile can reach the Russian capital, Moscow, which lies about 450 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

“Putin’s Russia is and will remain the greatest security threat to Europe for the foreseeable future,” claimed German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a speech delivered at Bundestag lower house, referring to President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Germany would counter it “with all our strength,” he said.