German defence minister: Not aware of cruise-missile swap offer

FILE PHOTO: German soldiers move a dummy Taurus bomb during preparations for the upcoming ILA Berlin Air Show in Schoenefeld, south of Berlin, Germany, May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday he was not aware of a swap offer that would see German Taurus cruise missiles going to Britain and Ukraine receiving British Storm Shadow systems in return.

“I am not aware of this offer. If there are talks about it, then not in my house,” he said in an interview with daily BILD, broadcaster WELT TV and news outlet Politico.

Britain has offered Germany a swap of cruise missiles that could allow the German government a way of overcoming concerns over a suggested delivery of missiles to Ukraine, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday.

Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply its Taurus missiles, which could give Ukraine the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, but the German government is hesitant due to concerns it could escalate the conflict.

“With Taurus, we are talking about a highly technical system, not comparable with the products of other nations. And that’s why we have to weigh up very carefully the conditions under which we do this,” Pistorius said.

The head of Germany’s parliamentary defence committee criticized the idea of a swap and instead called on both countries to supply their systems to Ukraine.

“Our European partners must think we are completely bonkers,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told Reuters. “Are we in kindergarten here on a merry-go-round?”

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Christina Fincher)