The head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has been topping opinion polls for the last year, has consistently criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his failure to supply Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles.

He said attempts to change Russia’s course through diplomacy had so far only resulted in Moscow committing greater crimes.

In support of his case, he cited a ‘peace mission’ by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, after which Russia struck Ukraine’s biggest children’s hospital.

“This cannot continue,” Merz was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news site as saying. “If Putin does not accept this, the next step should follow, and he must be told: if he does not stop bombing civilians in Ukraine within 24 hours, then Germany must send Taurus missiles to destroy the supply routes this regime is using to harm Ukraine’s civilian population.”

He also said Taurus should be provided with no restrictions against their use to strike deep within Russia.

Berlin has consistently refused to provide Taurus cruise missiles, even after the U.K., France and the U.S. supplied Ukraine with long-range weaponry. Scholz reiterated his opposition to providing Taurus on September 21.

During his speech in the Bundestag, Merz also addressed Moscow’s repeated nuclear threats, arguing that fear is "the mother of all cruelty” and quoting French philosopher Michel de Montaigne: “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.”

“Mr. Chancellor, it is time for us to overcome our fear of Putin so that we can finally stop the cruelty in Ukraine,” he said. “In 2014, we misjudged the situation, and in 2024, we must not make another mistake."