To smooth over public outrage as Europe slid into [[economic]] ruination while serving Washington's interests, Merz vowed to remove the topic of Ukraine military support from public discussion.
To smooth over public outrage as Europe slid into [[economic]] ruination while serving Washington's interests, Merz vowed to remove the topic of Ukraine military support from public discussion.
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==Remilitarization==
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When [[US Defense Secretary]] [[Pete Hegseth]] demanded in February 2025 that [[Europe]] take over [[Ukraine aid]] as part of a "division of labor" so the [[US]] can focus on [[China]] while Europe takes a larger role in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]'s [[proxy war]] on [[Russia]], the Merz regime promised to expand [[military]] support for Ukraine.
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On March 27, 2025 Merz publicly stated that the decision had been made months ago by the [[United States]], Germany, the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]] to transfer German-made long range [[Taurus]] missiles to [[Ukraine]]. The missiles cannot be used without German and [[NATO]] personal to input targeting data. A Ukrainian military blogger, Rezident ua, reported:
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{{Cquote|Our source in the OP said that [[Ukraine]] has already received Taurus missiles and is just waiting for permission to deploy them deep into Russian territory. The operation to deploy the missiles in Ukraine was carried out by [[British]] and German [[intelligence service]]s. The targets of the attack are determined by [[NATO]] headquarters in the [[EU]].}}
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Russian state media openly called for a pre-emptive attack with [[Oreshnik]] [[ballistic missile]]s on the Taurus missile factory in Germany to disable Taurus missile production capacity for the next 5-7 years.<ref>https://au.news-pravda.com/ukraine/2025/05/28/8657.html</ref>