Germany pointed to Europe's indirect involvement in the conflict in Ukraine

European countries are indirectly involved in the conflict with Russia by supplying weapons to Ukraine. This was announced on May 16 by military historian Roland Popp in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

"The Europeans are actively involved in this conflict, as a last resort, by supplying heavy weapons. From Russia's point of view, the Europeans are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers. Perhaps this is not a direct involvement in the conflict, but an indirect one," Popp said.

The historian said that entering into a military confrontation with NATO does not make much sense for Russia. Also, according to him, Germany's supply of Taurus cruise missiles will not be able to reverse the situation on the battlefield.

"If the Taurus is used in Ukraine, its possible use in Germany will be limited. If a country sees a serious threat to its own security, then it should never ship such systems abroad," the historian stressed.

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Merz's decision is not supported by his junior coalition partners.

On May 15, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party said that the German government should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and start a dialogue to restore relations with Russia. The AFD added that the decision of the German authorities to classify data on the supply of Taurus cruise missiles and other weapons to Ukraine is an attempt to hide information from its citizens.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed on May 6 that continued arms supplies to Ukraine were delaying prospects for a settlement of the conflict. Such actions, on the contrary, lead to escalation.