Ex UK minister says Germany’s Scholz should send missiles to Kyiv

Former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to agree to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, as he continues to resist this step despite repeated pleas from Kyiv.

“I think the reason is you can’t incrementally help Ukraine, you know, a bit of this and a bit of that. Do we want Ukraine to win? Or do we want them to lose?” Wallace said.

While he understands Scholz’s reasons for concern regarding a possible escalation of the conflict, these are unfounded, Wallace said. “We’ve seen throughout this whole process, that Russia’s red lines are like chalk, they just brush off the chalkboard,” he said.

“Ukraine will abide by any restrictions you put on them. So you could give them Taurus. And you could add all sorts of restrictions about where you want it used or not used,” said Wallace of the missiles Kyiv has been requesting for months.

He also dismissed comments made by Scholz that suggested British and French troops are in Ukraine, programming cruise missiles.

“He was wrong,” said Wallace. “I can’t tell you how Storm Shadows and Scalps are programmed. But it doesn’t involve people standing around in an airport in Ukraine, it doesn’t need to do that.”

While applauding Germany for ramping up its support for Ukraine, the former minister reiterated his harsh criticism of Scholz’s leadership.

“I think he’s not a leader for conflict at the moment. And there is conflict on our shores. And I think he, you know, the point he doesn’t understand deterrence, he doesn’t understand ambiguity, he doesn’t seem to understand that in the process we face in dealing with Russia, looking either indecisive, or flip-flopping on certain decisions, or seeming to be out of step with your allies, only aids Putin.”

Furthermore, poor communication is undermining Germany’s support for Kyiv, Wallace said: “There are countries who have done less than Germany. But their communication has been better. And their use of deterrence and ambiguity has meant that people think they’ve done more than Germany.”