Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his opposition to delivering long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, amid the ongoing war with Russia.
Scholz has faced sharp criticism from the conservative opposition and others for his refusal to give Ukraine the missiles, despite repeated pleas from Kyiv.
Scholz reiterated his refusal during a debate on Wednesday in Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, citing his fears that providing the advanced weapons might draw Germany more directly into the conflict with Russia.
"Prudence is not something that can be classified as weakness, as some do, but instead prudence is what the citizens of this country are entitled to," the Social Democrat said.
He again contended that supplying Ukrainian forces with Taurus missiles would also require the involvement of German soldiers to help with targeting and other tasks. Opposition politicians, and even some members of Scholz's three-party coalition, have questioned that claim.
"It is out of the question for me to supply far-reaching weapons systems that can only be sensibly supplied if they would also involve German soldiers - even outside of Ukraine," Scholz said. "That is a line that I as chancellor do not want to cross."
The center-right opposition CDU/CSU bloc has threatened Scholz with a parliamentary inquiry into his public contention that Ukraine's use of Taurus missiles would require the involvement of German soldiers.
During Wednesday's debate, CDU politician Norbert Röttgen sharply pressed Scholz on whether France and the United Kingdom - both of which have supplied Ukraine with long-range SCALP and Storm Shadow cruise missiles of their own - had crossed Scholz's red line and become parties to the war.
Earlier this year, Scholz provoked anger in the U.K. by appearing to publicly state that British and French soldiers were directly involved in targeting those missiles.
"You are aiming to deceive the public on this issue - an issue of European and national security," Röttgen told Scholz.
Scholz, however, responded by accusing Röttgen of "half-truths" and implying that Röttgen was aware of secret information that would complicate his accusation, a charge Röttgen denied.
Scholz fell back on repeating his earlier statements about why Germany could not deliver Taurus cruise missiles: "The way it is done in France and Great Britain is not possible for us."
The CDU/CSU bloc plans to force a vote on Thursday on a resolution demanding that Scholz's government give Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Many Greens and liberal-conservative Free Democrats (FDP), the junior parties in Scholz's coalition, also support sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine. But coalition lawmakers have largely stood by Scholz during similar previous opposition motions aimed at overturning his decision.
Parliamentary leaders from Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and coalition partners the Greens have expressed confidence that lawmakers will stand with the chancellor again in this week's vote.