In a recent speech, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shocked the international public, especially Europe, when he claimed that Kiev could use weapons provided by Berlin without limiting its range of fire, which could be directed to Russian territory.
Writing on RT, German historian tarik Cyril Amar at Koç University in Istanbul (Türkiye) said that this was the first time since World War II that Germany was put at risk of being a direct counter-attack target from Russia.
Mr. Merz's speech was given in a forum organized by a major German television station. Although he and the politicians in the ruling coalition later tried to "cooficialise" their statements by saying "nothing new", the damage occurred: Germany was dragged one more step into the already complex conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
It is worth mentioning that the current weapons systems sent to Ukraine such as the MARS II rocket and the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery have limited range (only 56-84 km), which will hardly have a major impact if not expanded in scale.
But according to other conservative politicians, Prime Minister Merz's speech is effectively a stepping stone to prepare public opinion for the provision of Taurus cruise missiles - a type of weapon that can fly more than 500 km away, capable of reaching Moscow.
However, the transfer of Taurus is not simply a provision of weapons. It was the German air force that admitted that Ukraine could not operate the Taurus on its own. The missile is too complex, requiring German experts to provide guidance, programming and control.
That means, if a Taurus was fired from Ukraine, it was likely still " pressed by the Germans". And so, in Russia's eyes, it was no longer an indirect act but a direct participation of Germany.
The reaction from Russia has begun to appear. On the "60 Minute" program - the most watched political talk show in Russia, a senior military expert called for a limited, non-nuclear but painful missile attack on Taurus factories in Germany if Berlin decided to provide this type of missile.
Despite some German politicians' calculations that Taurus could help balance the battlefield, even senior German officers admitted the opposite. It cannot rotate the situation. The only thing Taurus can do is escalate the conflict, dragging NATO - of which Germany is a member - into a direct military confrontation with Russia.
The question is whether Prime Minister Merz really wants this? According to historian tarik Cyril Amar, perhaps not yet, but he pursues another goal - comprehensively rearming Germany. And he may be taking advantage of the current situation to promote a sweeping mobilization program, something the German conservatives have long long long wanted.
However, if we continue to broadcast "ignoring" signals, no one is sure that the scenario of Germany being dragged into a hot war will not happen.
