Days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said almost bluntly that British and French soldiers were directly helping the Ukrainians to shoot at the Russians, the avalanche of attacks on Scholz has not subsided.
"A knife in the back NATO", read some of the comments coming from both London and Berlin.
Although there are denials that Western soldiers are directly participating on the battlefield, Scholz is accused of having given "intelligence secrets" to his partners, so the question arises as to what kind of secrets he gave if it is claimed at the same time that he told a lie?
The news comes amid a debate sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron when he said yes "does not rule out" sending ground troops to Ukraine and that just a few hours after he spoke with Scholz and other European leaders behind closed doors in the Elysée Palace.
Macron's ideas are in Germany - and elsewhere in Europe - rejected from all sides of the political spectrum. Scholz was particularly emphatic, saying that NATO must never allow itself to go to direct war with Russia.
How Scholz "squeezed out" the secret
But Scholz is under pressure at home and abroad to "at least" deliver the German Taurus-type missiles, which have a range of five hundred kilometers.
"Too long a range" for Scholz because, as he says, the Ukrainian army could easily target the internationally recognized territory of Russia with those weapons.
And then, during Scholz's presentation about it on Tuesday, the chancellor also said this: "It's a very long-range weapon. And the fact that the British and French contribute in the field of guiding (missiles) to the target and tracking the targets is not possible in Germany. Anyone who has dealt with these weapons systems knows that."
In other words, Scholz said that the British and French on the front are directly helping the Ukrainians to select targets and guide missiles. No less and no more than that they are already participating in the war.
Angry Brits
The British are angry, writes the leading German tabloid Bild. "Olaf Scholz seems to have leaked that they were helping the Ukrainians fire rockets at Russian troops - thereby giving away tricky military secrets," the newspaper said.
The British missile system is obviously meant Storm Shadow, which is similar to German Taurus. Those missiles, which the French call Scalp-EG, also used by Britain and France. They have a range of 250 kilometers, half that of the Taurus.
The British Ministry of Defense somewhat denied the matter, claiming that Britain was not involved in the targeting and that it was a matter for Ukraine. They added that there are only British instructors on the ground who train the medical teams of the Ukrainian army, and do not participate in the fighting.
But other reactions reveal that Scholz was not talking nonsense. "This is a blatant misuse of intelligence that was deliberately put forward to divert attention from Germany's reluctance to equip Ukraine with its long-range missile system," criticized Tobias Ellwood, former chairman of the defense committee in the British House of Commons.
Criticism for Scholz at home as well
Scholz is even accused of having given important information to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But that's unlikely, says Justin Crump, who heads Sibylline, a consultancy that advises the Secret Service.
"British support for Ukraine is hardly news for Moscow, given that information is constantly leaking, but this information has been constantly covered up before." Scholz has now broken through that cover-up," Crump criticizes.
At home, the opposition Christian Democrats labeled Scholz's move as "irresponsible" and undermining NATO partners.
"He has put a knife into NATO togetherness," said German security expert Maximilian Terhalle, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. By doing so, he says, Scholz jeopardized cooperation with Ukraine and disclosed the intelligence secrets of his closest partners.
British-French missiles Storm Shadow they have been at the disposal of Ukraine for a long time, which carried out successful strikes against targets in Crimea and the Russian Black Sea fleet. Missiles can also be mounted on the Sukhoi aircraft that the Ukrainians have.
In January, it was announced that a new shipment of those missiles had arrived in Ukraine. France has so far sent fifty pieces, and Great Britain probably more than that. It is not known exactly how much.
