Greece will not supply Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems or S-300 missiles. This was stated by the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, quoted by the “Kyiv Independent”.
On April 22, Greek media reported that Athens planned to send at least one Patriot system to Ukraine following pressure from the European Union to increase air defense aid to Kiev.
Yesterday, however, Mitsotakis emphasized that Greece will not send Ukraine either “Patriot” or S-300, despite its demands and its critical air defense shortage.
Ukraine has requested at least seven Patriot systems from NATO if they are indeed allies
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“Greece supported Ukraine in various ways, with defense materials. However, we stated from the first moment that we cannot divest ourselves of the weapons systems that are critical to our deterrence capabilitieshe pointed out.
According to Mitsotakis, sending the equipment to Ukraine would pose too great a risk to Greek air security.
“We have a surplus of materials with which we can support Ukraine, we have done so and I believe that this is the right choice. And if we can find such materials, we will continue to do so. But air defense systems are critical to the protection of the Greek airspace and will not be provided to Ukraine”, he was categorical.
Escalating Russian strikes and resulting civilian casualties highlight Ukraine’s dire need for additional air defenses.
On April 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to move from discussions to concrete decisions on air defense aid following Russia’s missile attack on Dnipro.
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