Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, April 17, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned the incoming new German government against delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, which incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz said several days ago he was willing to do.
Even if the missiles should be transferred to Ukraine, they would still be controlled by Germany, meaning that Berlin would be directly participating in the conflict, Zakharova said, suggesting that such a step would not be done without Russia taking retaliative measures.
“Since live firing these cruise missiles is impossible without the direct assistance of Bundeswehr servicemen, a strike on any Russian facilities, critical transport infrastructure ... all this will be regarded as direct German participation in military operations,” Zakharova said.
The British government was quick to support Merz’s madness. According to RT, London’s The Telegraph reported on April 16 that a British foreign policy official had commented on the Taurus deliveries that “We continue to work with our partners, including Germany, to equip Ukraine as best we can to defend its sovereign territory.”
On the related provocation of European threats to send military forces from a Coalition of the Willing into Ukraine as a “multinational peacekeeping contingent,” Zakharova was vehement in her April 17 press briefing, characterizing the proposal as “insane.” She added: “Despite their persistent efforts, Paris and London have failed to secure unanimous backing for their reckless plan to deploy what they term a ‘multinational peacekeeping contingent’ consisting of troops from several NATO member states.… Judging by the current discussions, Washington still has no intention of becoming involved in such an adventure. It seems to be realistically assessing where all this could lead,” she added.
“Once again, London has taken the lead. It announced a package of assistance amounting to £350 million, which includes, as stated, hundreds of thousands of drones, radar systems, and more,” she noted.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, formerly a Russian President, was equally blunt in a posting on X: “Apparently, the top of Ukraine’s fascist clique have come to Paris for talks with the U.K., Germany and France on how many European coffins they will be ready to accept after the deployment of the troops of the `coalition of the willing’ in Ukraine,” he wrote in an English-language post.
