Greece denied on Monday a report that is about to supply air defense systems to Ukraine, clarifying that no action would be taken that might compromise the country’s deterrent capability.
The government spokesman in Athens Pavlos Marinakis reacted to a report in the Financial Times suggesting that the government in Athens faces significant pressure to send US Patriot systems and Russian S-300s to Ukraine.
“We have already provided tangible assistance to Ukraine and its people. However, it must be emphasized that no action will be taken – and I stress this – that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense,” Marinakis told a press briefing.
“We have consistently refuted such claims in the past, and I reiterate our stance emphatically today,” he added.
In 2021 Greece delivered a battery of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Saudi Arabia as well as 120 soldiers to work the weapons system. The then-Chief of General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros said that the mission of the Greek forces is to maintain peace and stability especially in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
EU “piles pressure” on Greece to send air defense systems to Ukraine
According to the FT report published earlier Monday, European leaders personally urged Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez during a summit in Brussels last week to supply the systems to Ukraine.
The two leaders, whose armed forces collectively possess over a dozen Patriot systems along with other assets like S-300s, were allegedly told that their own needs were not as pressing as Ukraine’s and that they were not currently facing imminent threats.
“We all know who has them, we all know where they are, and we all know who needs them,” said one of the sources speaking anonymously to the FT.
Poland and Romania, which also have Patriots, are under less pressure to consider supplying Kyiv, said officials. This is because both countries are more vulnerable on the border with Ukraine.
The British paper adds that pressure to provide air defense systems will intensify at a meeting of foreign and defense ministers from all 27 EU member states in Luxembourg. Kyiv is particularly interested in the outdated Greek S-300 systems, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces already know how to operate, FT writes.
Ukraine is in need of air defense systems
In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “‘Patriots’ can only be called air defense systems if they work and save lives rather than standing immobile somewhere in storage bases.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on April 3 that Western partners do not want to give Ukraine “five or seven” Patriots, although they have more than 100.
Zelensky said on April 6 that 25 Patriot systems or their equivalents are needed to fully protect Ukraine’s airspace from Russian attacks.
Kuleba said on April 12 that Ukraine is currently in active negotiations with its allies to supply two Patriot batteries and one SAMP-T. The Foreign Ministry also argued that Russia would not have destroyed the Trypillia Thermal Power Plant if Ukraine had a sufficient number of Patriot systems.
Related: US House Passes $61 Billion Ukraine Aid Package
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