“At every stage it’s been said if you give anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, that’s escalation. No, it wasn’t,” said Cameron as he stood alongside German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a press conference Wednesday.

“‘If you give tanks to the Ukrainians, that’s escalation. No, it wasn’t. If you give long-range artillery or long-range fires to the Ukrainians, it’s escalation. No, it isn’t.

“I think the reason for that is clear: If what you’re doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression, then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to fight back to recover its territory,” Cameron said.

The foreign secretary said only a situation “where a NATO soldier is killing a Russian soldier” would amount to escalation.

Scholz’s stance on Taurus missiles has come under fresh scrutiny in recent days after Russian media published leaked audio of senior German military officials discussing the war in Ukraine, including frank comments on the politics and logistics of delivering Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Among other confidential revelations from the tape, the officials suggested that British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine — providing an awkward backdrop to Cameron’s four hours of talks with Baerbock.