Lavrov called Scholz's decision to refuse Taurus deliveries to Ukraine responsible

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, 19 November that he considered German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's position to refuse to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine as responsible.

He specified that Scholz had repeatedly declared his decision unchanged despite pressure from German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock and the head of the opposition Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz, who direct "critical arrows" at the chancellor.

"Well I believe that this position of Scholz is a responsible position," Lavrov said at a press conference following his participation in the Group of Twenty (G20) summit.

Earlier, on November 18, Scholz said at a press conference on the margins of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro that he was sticking to his decision not to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Scholz had previously said on October 25 that he opposed the transfer of long-range Taurus missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) because of the risk of escalation. He noted that he was skeptical of discussions about the AFU attacking facilities on Russian territory with American or European weapons. Later, deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner added that Germany would not change its decision to supply Taurus to Ukraine after the US approval of strikes deep into Russia.

On November 15, it became known that Kiev sent a request to Berlin for new military aid packages, noting that the AFU is experiencing a major shortage of drones. Kiev's request was supported by German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock, who said that Germany should follow the example of European countries and start supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine. According to her, the expansion of the military aid package for Ukraine is a "German responsibility". In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Berbock a rabid xenophobe.