Germany's Bundestag votes against Taurus missiles to Ukraine

What you need to know

• The German parliament held a debate on the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine

• The debate comes shortly before the second anniversary of Russia's invasion  

• Parties both in Scholz's three-way coalition and the opposition called for sending more weapons to Kyiv

• The opposition's motion to deliver Taurus missiles was rejected, while the ruling coalition's motion was approved

Bundestag votes for delivering 'long-range weapons' to Ukraine

The German parliament has voted in favor of a motion put forward by the country's ruling coalition, which called for providing "additional, necessary long-range weapons systems and ammunition" to Ukraine.

The measure, however, did not explicitly mention the delivery of the Taurus cruise missile system to Kyiv.

While 382 lawmakers voted for the motion, 284 rejected it and 2 abstained.

There are differences in views among the parties of the ruling coalition as to whether the wording also allows for the delivery of Taurus missiles.

While politicians from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and environmentalist Greens say that it does, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) rejects this interpretation.

The vote was held after parliamentarians earlier in the day rejected another, competing motion presented by the opposition center-right Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc, in which they explicitly urged for the supply of the Taurus cruise missile system to Kyiv.

Highlighting divisions within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition, the FDP head of the Bundestag Defense Committee Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann voted for the opposition motion.

But the minister, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), avoided mentioning the Taurus cruise missile system in his address.

When an opposition lawmaker questioned if the government’s draft motion — which calls for supplying "additionally required long-range weapon systems" — also includes Taurus, Pistorius said he "can't answer" that question as he was not a member of the parliamentary group that drafted it.

There are differences in views among the parties of the ruling coalition as to whether the wording also allows for the delivery of the Taurus, with politicians from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and environmentalist Greens saying that it does but the SPD rejecting this interpretation.