Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his refusal to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Lavrov described Scholz’s position, which he has stuck to for months despite pleas from Kiev, as “responsible” during a press conference at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
The top Russian diplomat noted that Scholz has been under pressure not only from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but also from members of his own governing coalition and the conservative opposition in Germany.
Lavrov called it an “undeniable fact” that Scholz’s stance was at odds with others in Europe, too, including the British and French leaders.
Zelensky meanwhile said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new nuclear doctrine, which lowers the threshold for the use of atomic weapons, meant that it was time for Scholz to reconsider his stance on the Taurus missiles, which have a range of about 500 kilometres.
Scholz has ruled out their delivery regardless of decisions taken by fellow NATO allies, arguing that it would pose a major risk of escalation.
