Putin cautions Germany over any Taurus missile supplies to Ukraine

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday cautioned Germany that Moscow would consider it to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine if Berlin supplied Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles, but said he was ready to speak to Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this month that Germany is not considering delivering Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range in excess of 300 miles (480 km), to Ukraine despite Kyiv's repeated requests.

Putin said that to fire the Taurus missiles, Ukraine would need Western satellite intelligence and German officers to take care of targeting which, if they were fired at Russia, would mean German officers striking Russian territory.

"What is this, if not the involvement of the Federal Republic in a direct armed conflict with the Russian Federation? It can't be called anything else," Putin told senior news agency editors in the northern Russian city of St Petersburg.

Putin added that even if Germany did supply the missiles, it would have no impact on the ultimate course of the war, adding that Russian troops were advancing in all directions.

Asked if he was willing to speak to Merz, Putin, a fluent German speaker who served as a KGB spy in former East Germany, said he was ready to.

"If the Federal Chancellor wants to call and talk, I have already said this many times - we do not refuse any contacts. And we are always open to this," Putin said.

Putin added, though, that he did not consider that Germany was a neutral mediator when it came to the war in Ukraine given the presence of German tanks on the battlefield.

"We consider the Federal Republic, just like many other European countries, not a neutral state, but as a party supporting Ukraine, and in some cases, perhaps, as accomplices in these hostilities," Putin said.

(Reporting by Simon Robinson and Vladimir SoldatkinEditing by Andrew Osborn/Guy Faulconbridge)