“We have received a request from the Ukrainian side in recent days,” a spokeswoman for the German ministry told AFP, without giving details on their number.
It is not yet clear whether Berlin will accept or not, which should lead to intense internal discussions.
The German government has significantly increased its military supplies to Kiev in recent months, but remains reluctant to supply it with cruise missiles or support the Ukrainian air force and help deliver F-16 fighters, for example.
Britain, one of Kiev’s main supporters, recently announced its intention to deliver Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, to be the first to supply it with this type of long-range weapon.
The developments come as Kyiv has been preparing for months to launch a counterattack to expel Russian forces from territory it controls in Ukraine.
The German newspaper “Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung” quoted sources as saying that Kiev had officially asked Berlin to supply it with long-range “Taurus” cruise missiles.
The newspaper said: “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already raised the issue of the country’s delivery of long-range missiles, during the meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin in early May.
Although the Chancellor’s spokesperson does not want to comment on the matter, the German Federal Ministry of Defense confirms that Ukraine has indeed requested to supply it with Taurus missiles.
Earlier, a German deputy, Roderich Kiswetter, called on his country’s government to provide Ukraine with such cruise missiles.
Taurus Missile
Air-to-ground cruise missile carried by fighters, developed by the German-Swedish company of the same name. The range of the missile allows it to hit targets far from the current front line in eastern Ukraine. The missile is capable of hitting the Russian capital, Moscow.
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