ERR's Epp Ehand reported from Berlin for ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) on Thursday that analysts do not foresee Chancellor Scholz backing down on the matter any time soon.

The opposition CPU/CSU put the proposal to send Taurus missiles to a vote at the Bundestag on Thursday, but this failed to pass.

Chancellor Scholz has maintained a firm "no" on the question of sending the weapons, though to be highly effective, to Ukraine. On Wednesday, he justified this stance at parliament, saying: "My position is that if we do send weapons, then we must ensure that German soldiers are not involved with it."

While it is thought by some experts that German personnel would not be needed for the Ukrainians to deploy Taurus effectively, Scholz said: "This is a long-range missile, with an effective range of 500 kilometers, and in my opinion, it is irresponsible to deploy such a weapon without the participation of German soldiers."

While Scholz party's (SPD) coalition partners, the Greens and the FDP, generally want to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, a desire to keep the coalition together currently trumps that.

Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee member Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) told AK that Scholz' arguments were disingenuous.

"The chancellor has always used false and misleading arguments," Kiesewetter said.

"His real argument is that he is scared of Russia, he believes that a nuclear attack could happen against Ukraine, or even against us, if we were to provide Taurus. That said, the Ukrainians are acting entirely in accordance within international law when they hit the Kerch Strait Bridge, as it is an illegal construction. So, the real reason is simply fear of the deterrence of Russia," he went on, referring to the bridge Russia built between occupied Crimea, which is Ukrainian territory annexed a decade ago, and the Russian "mainland," as a way of accessing the peninsula.

The split is not purely between Scholz and coalition partners, and is currently at deadlock, possibly even to after June's European Parliament election – ie. the matter has become a European election campaigning issue, in Germany at least.

European Council on Foreign Relations analyst Rafael Loss told AK that: "The past weeks have demonstrated that the standoff has intensified between those against, and in favor, of sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, I do not see any possibility of political compromise emerging right now. It very much looks to be the case that the different factions have started campaigning ahead of the European Parliament elections, including on this issue of sending Taurus."

On the other hand, Scholz has crossed some of his own lines in the sand in the past, during the course of the war since it began over two years ago, while pressure to send Taurus missiles is growing both at home and among allies.

Ironically, this means that holding out of sending missiles in fact threatens future peace, the CDU's Roderich Kiesewetter added.

"Scholz's actions threaten peace and freedom and Ukraine's self-determination," Kiesewetter said.

Russian painter Dmitri Vrubel's (1960-2022) work on the Berlin Wall (including the famous Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker "fraternal kiss" creation – ed.) recalls the Russia-Germany relations from decades ago. In the present day, Europeans are waiting for Germany to send stronger messages to the aggressor state, Russia.

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