Germany's Scholz rules out long-range weapons for Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday ruled out the delivery of long-range precision to Ukraine in the future regardless of decisions made by NATO allies, Report informs via DW.

He made the comments while responding to questions at a citizen's dialogue event in the town of Prenzlau in Germany's eastern state of Brandenburg.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting long-range weapons so that Ukrainian forces can attack Russian logistics and military airfields far behind the front line.

Scholz said that the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles would entail "a great risk of escalation" of the Ukraine conflict.

Taurus cruise missiles have a range of around 500 kilometers (310,6 miles), which would allow Ukraine to strike targets in Moscow.

"I said no to that," Scholz asserted. "And of course that also applies to other weapons, if we had supplied them, which could reach this long distance."

"That remains the case," Scholz said, adding that this would not change "even if other countries decide differently."

Scholz's comments come after US President Joe Biden hinted that Washington could lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range Western weapons to hit sites within Russian territory.