Release date
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview with Euronews that Germany should deliver long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine and that NATO allies need to increase deliveries to protect Ukrainians from Russian missiles and drones.
Rasmussen, who served as Denmark’s prime minister and then NATO chief from 2010 to 2014, said NATO allies need to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring him to the negotiating table, but suggested he has no incentive to do so at this point.
“Putin has no incentive to work constructively on the peace process as long as he believes he can win on the battlefield,” Rasmussen told Euronews.
“Therefore, we have to support the Ukrainians more and put more pressure on them to change his calculations,” he pointed out.
The German-made Taurus is a highly advanced long-range cruise missile with a range of 500 kilometers, twice that of the cruise missiles Kiev currently has, and could potentially allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in April that he was open to handing over the Taurus to Ukraine, but this has not yet happened.
The previous coalition government, led by Olaf Scholz, held off on deploying missiles to Ukraine over concerns that an attack on mainland Russia could escalate the war.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russia’s war of attrition has focused heavily on artillery, drones, and missiles targeting Ukrainian cities and other civilian targets rather than rapid territorial advances.
Since taking office in January for a second non-consecutive term, US President Donald Trump has publicly stated that he wants to end the war in Ukraine and has begun direct dialogue with President Putin.
Rasmussen noted that Washington’s policy has changed since January.
“The United States may become even more unpredictable,” he said. “I don’t appreciate the red carpet reception that President Putin and President Trump received when they met in Alaska.”
However, Rasmussen welcomed the recent announcement of sanctions by the United States against two major Russian oil companies as a positive step.
“President Trump seems to have gradually lost patience with President Putin, and I think the Americans have gradually realized that if they have to bring President Putin into peace talks, they have to put more pressure on Russia,” the former NATO chief said.
Trump also remains hesitant when it comes to supporting Ukraine with weapons, telling reporters on Sunday that the United States would not sell Tomahawk missiles to Kiev.
The U.S.-made Tomahawk is also a long-range missile with an even longer range than the Taurus, which Ukrainian authorities have defined as a “game changer.”
video editor • Amandine Hess
Additional sources of information • Video by Frédéric Garcon
