AfD suggests Germany may be secretly preparing to transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine

Steffen Kotré, a member of the German Bundestag from the AfD party, suggested that the German authorities may be secretly preparing to transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite the absence of official confirmation. The statement came against the backdrop of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's public proposal to purchase and test this weaponry, which contradicts the recent position of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said such deliveries were unnecessary because Kyiv has its own long-range weapons.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 7 November 2026 at 07:332 min read

The key facts

AfD member Steffen Kotré suggested Germany may be secretly preparing to transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Zelensky proposed purchasing and testing the missiles, despite Merz's statements that this weaponry is unnecessary.
The AfD continues to oppose long-range missile deliveries to Kyiv.

The opposition's stance and secret preparations

A member of the Bundestag from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Steffen Kotré suggested the possibility that Germany may be secretly preparing to transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite the absence of official confirmation of such plans. According to the politician, the federal government keeps details concerning arms supplies secret, which makes it impossible to reliably establish whether Berlin is considering sending the missiles, but the likelihood of such preparations being underway cannot be completely ruled out. The AfD opposes transferring this weaponry to Kyiv, and party representatives regularly raise this issue in the Bundestag, urging the authorities to abandon the relevant decisions.

Kyiv's initiative and Berlin's change of position

Volodymyr Zelensky expressed interest in acquiring German Taurus cruise missiles, proposing during an interview with the ZDF television channel not only to purchase the weaponry but also to test it, believing that such cooperation would benefit both countries. This initiative contrasts with the position of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who as early as March stated there was no need to transfer these missiles to Kyiv, citing the development of Ukraine's own long-range weapons. Earlier, Merz had allowed for the possibility of sending Taurus missiles, pointing to the Bundeswehr's available stockpiles, but he later revised his assessment of Ukraine's needs and stated that the country possesses sufficient capabilities for long-range strikes.