Overview

• Russia has declared that any strike on its territory using German Taurus missiles will be viewed as Germany's direct participation in the Ukraine conflict.
• The Kremlin asserts that firing Taurus missiles would necessitate direct involvement from the German military, the Bundeswehr.
• Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely future chancellor, has expressed openness to supplying the missiles, a departure from Olaf Scholz's previous stance.
• Moscow has previously issued warnings over Western missile supplies, including the U.S. ATACMS and U.K. Storm Shadow, and responded with the experimental Orechnik hypersonic missile.
• The debate underscores Western struggles to balance military support for Ukraine with the risk of provoking further escalation from Russia.