The idea stemmed from London, which according to business daily Handelsblatt had offered several weeks ago to send its Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine if Germany provided Britain with the Taurus in return.

The German chancellery declined to comment.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he was not aware of such a plan, but that any talks would have to determine whether it would be workable.

Germany is Ukraine's second biggest weapons donor, but has so far refused to send the highly-sought Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv.

Berlin is wary that Ukraine will use the missiles to strike inside Russia.

With a range of over 500 kilometres, the Taurus flies almost twice as far than the Storm Shadow which, like its almost identical French counterpart SCALP, reaches over 250 kilometres.

France and Britain have already been delivering SCALP or Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.

But Kyiv has been pleading for more ammunition and armaments in its fight against Russian troops, making calls in particular for the Taurus.