German chancellor Olaf Scholz has been accused of a "flagrant abuse of intelligence" for divulging details of British aid for Ukrainian forces.

Mr Scholz said Germany will not be sending Kyiv Taurus, Berlin's version of the Storm Shadow missile, pointing to a risk of his country becoming directly involved in the war, referring to the UK and French assistance to Ukraine.

On Monday, he said that German soldiers could not follow the lead of their British and French allies in "the way of target control and accompanying target control".

"This is a flagrant abuse of intelligence deliberately designed to distract from Germany's reluctance to arm Ukraine with its own long-range missile system," said Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the Commons defence committee.

He added that Mr Scholz's argument will "no doubt be used by Russia to racket up the escalator ladder".

At home in Berlin, Mr Scholz is facing flak for not delivering aid sought by Ukraine, especially long-range weapons, needed to stop Russia's advance on the battlefield.

The need for long-range weapons like Storm Shadow cruise missiles and Taurus has been reiterated by Volodymyr Zelensky, who admits his troops are running low on ammunition.

Last week German lawmakers called on the government to deliver further long-range weapons to Ukraine, but voted down an opposition call explicitly urging it to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles.

A motion drawn up by governing parties urged the government to keep up military support and said "this includes the delivery of further necessary long-range weapons systems and ammunition" to enable attacks on "strategically important targets far in the rear of the Russian aggressor."