BERLIN — An inference by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that British and French personnel are operating cruise missiles donated to Ukraine is “wrong, irresponsible and a slap in the face to allies,” the chair of the U.K. parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Alicia Kearns said Thursday.
Speaking to journalists in Berlin earlier this week, Scholz justified his continued refusal to send Germany’s Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine by saying it could require German troops in Ukraine to program them.
That would — in Scholz's view — make Germany an active participant in the conflict.
“This is a very far-reaching weapon,” Scholz said of the Taurus. “And what the British and French are doing in terms of target control and support for target control cannot be done in Germany.”
Taurus missiles have a powerful warhead that can destroy reinforced targets or infrastructure such as bridges and reach deep behind enemy lines, something Kyiv is desperately asking for.
Last year, the U.K. government confirmed that it had sent long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, with France — which calls its version of the same missiles SCALP — following shortly afterward.
Responding to the comments, the U.K.'s ex-Defense Minister Ben Wallace, who sent the Storm Shadows, said Scholz was "the wrong man, in the wrong job at the wrong time.”
While U.K. officials have previously called for some instructors to be posted in Ukraine on a limited basis, officially London is clear that Kyiv is in charge of operating the missiles.
“Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow and its targeting processes are the business of the armed forces of Ukraine and has successfully put pressure on Russian forces,” said a spokesperson for the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence.
While there was anger in London, Paris was calmer about Scholz's comments despite broader friction between France and Germany over arming Ukraine. The government had no official comment, but MP Benjamin Haddad from President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party tweeted that the chancellor's comments created a "diplomatic crisis" with London. "Berlin is very isolated," he added.
"Looks like Scholz cares as little (or even less) for his U.K. allies as he does for the French. Silver lining nonetheless: he's unwittingly helping to break the taboo on the presence of NATO-member forces in Ukraine," tweeted François Heisbourg, a senior adviser with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Scholz has also seen blowback at home — including from within his governing coalition — over the refusal to budge on giving Ukraine Taurus missiles.
But the real dismay is in London.
“We gave Storm Shadow, we all have to give what we can. Scholz should give Taurus and stop holding back the security of Europe,” said Kearns.