UK to Germany: Sending Taurus missiles won’t escalate Ukraine war

Supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine won't ramp up the country's conflict with Russia, Britain's foreign secretary insisted Thursday, amid an intense debate in Germany about whether to send Kyiv the long-range weapons.

Speaking on a trip to Berlin, David Cameron — the former British prime minister-turned-top diplomat — said the decision to supply the missiles is a "matter for the German government to decide."

But Cameron made a clear attempt to unpick the logic suggested by some — including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz— that supplying Ukraine with the cruise missiles would trigger retaliation from Russia.

 "At every stage it's been said if you give anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, that's escalation. No, it wasn't," said Cameron as he stood alongside German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a press conference Wednesday.

"'If you give tanks to the Ukrainians, that's escalation. No, it wasn't. If you give long-range artillery or long-range fires to the Ukrainians, it's escalation. No, it isn't.

"I think the reason for that is clear: If what you're doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression, then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to fight back to recover its territory," Cameron said.

The foreign secretary said only a situation "where a NATO soldier is killing a Russian soldier" would amount to escalation.

Scholz's stance on Taurus missiles has come under fresh scrutiny in recent days after Russian media published leaked audio of senior German military officials discussing the war in Ukraine, including frank comments on the politics and logistics of delivering Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Among other confidential revelations from the tape, the officials suggested that British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine — providing an awkward backdrop to Cameron's four hours of talks with Baerbock.

The British government has avoided publicly criticizing Germany over the leak — though the country's former defense secretary, Ben Wallace, told The Times of London it shows Berlin is "neither secure nor reliable."

Asked by reporters if he agrees with Wallace, Cameron said he "didn't want to play into a [Vladimir] Putin narrative" about Western disunity.

"What I see, 115 days into the job, is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in NATO," Cameron said.

"Of course, we're going to have areas where we want to discuss what more we can do, what more we can do to help. Those are the sorts of discussions that good friends and allies with this unity have in private," he added.

Yet Cameron's message on weapons to Ukraine — delivered even as the U.K. government declined to cough up fresh defense spending at its own budget Wednesday — was unequivocal.

“I just think this is the test for politicians of this generation, of this time," he said.

"I don’t have any doubt that the Ukrainians are brave enough. I don’t have any doubt in their leadership.

"I don’t have any doubt in their ability to fight and to resist this appalling Russian aggression," Cameron said. 

"The question is for us: Are we …. going to see this through? Are we going to give them what they need? Are we going to back them with everything that we have?"