German Chancellor Scholz defends decision not to deliver long-range missiles to Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years on Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

However, he stood firm on his decision not to supply Taurus long-range missiles.

While Germany has been one of Ukraine’s strongest allies, Scholz has resisted two of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's key demands: the delivery of German- and Swedish-made Taurus missiles and an expedited path to NATO membership.

Facing early elections in February, Scholz defended his cautious approach, framing it as a balance between robust support for Ukraine and minimising the risk of escalating the conflict into a direct NATO-Russia confrontation.

“This doesn’t lessen our support, which is very wide-ranging and it is important for me to say — will remain wide-ranging,” Scholz said in Kyiv.

In a major shift, Zelenskyy signalled on Friday that an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war” in Ukraine.

Some Western nations granted permission in November for Kyiv to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons they have supplied.

Following the decision, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia launched a strike on Ukraine with an unstoppable intermediate-range ballistic missile, dubbed the Oreshnik, that he claimed can't be intercepted.

It marked the first time that such a missile was used in the war or in any other conflict.

Scholz has been cautious about talk of fast-tracking NATO membership for Ukraine. He has emphasised the importance of finding a path to peace, which he insists "must not be chosen over Ukraine's head".

"Germany, a leader in providing Ukraine with air defence systems, has already supplied five IRIS-T systems, three