Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is currently the Green Party’s chancellor candidate in the upcoming elections, said that if elected, he would send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked his allies for long-range weapons so that the Ukrainian military can attack Russian logistics centers and military bases far behind the front line and within Russian territory.
But until now, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has chosen not to supply Taurus cruise missiles, saying they could enable Ukraine to also hit targets in the Russian capital Moscow.
[…]
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to the Russian air barrage on Ukraine, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want peace and is not ready to negotiate.”
“It’s clear that President Putin intends to intensify the fighting,” Macron said.
He made the remarks as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil.
[…]
The French president, however, said Ukraine’s allies “must remain united … on an agenda for genuine peace, that is to say, a peace that does not mean Ukraine’s surrender.”
Macron highlighted that his country’s priority was to “equip, support and help Ukraine to resist.”
At least regarding Germany the truth is the Greens have been pushing for more weapons deliveries almost since the beginning of the war. It has been pretty clear that not delivering Taurus is because Scholz decided so.
They were also arguably the only major German party that took the Russian threat seriously before the war.
And props to Habeck for putting a stop to that pipeline project when he got the chance.
German: https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/innenpolitik/id_100419068/nordstream-2-wie-robert-habeck-die-pipeline-stoppte-.html
English (via Google Translate) https://www-t--online-de.translate.goog/nachrichten/deutschland/innenpolitik/id_100419068/nordstream-2-wie-robert-habeck-die-pipeline-stoppte-.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
That dude to me is the most competent AND down to earth person in German politics right now.