Greece is not ready to transfer Patriot missiles to Ukraine; we must not undermine our own defence – Mitsotakis
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declined to confirm that Athens was ready to transfer interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv, saying assistance to Ukraine must not weaken Greece's defence capabilities.
He made the remarks to a Radio Liberty journalist in Brussels, Censor.NET reports.
Greece's position
Asked about a possible transfer of Patriot missiles from Greek stockpiles to Ukraine, the prime minister said Greece would do everything possible to support Kyiv, but not at the expense of its own defence capabilities.
Asked whether Ukraine had submitted such a request to Athens, he said he would not comment publicly.
"You know that we have supported Ukraine by providing substantial air defence assets from our stockpiles. At the same time, I want to be entirely frank: we will do everything possible to support Ukraine without undermining Greece's defence capabilities. We are also in a sensitive region in terms of security and have other commitments, but we stand with Ukraine and always try to do everything we can," Mitsotakis stressed.
What is known about Kyiv's request
- Greece previously supplied Ukraine with shorter-range air defence assets but has not reported supplying Patriot interceptor missiles.
- According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Kyiv approached Athens with a request for up to 200 PAC-2 missiles. The newspaper reported that the Ukrainian side believed some of these missiles might be nearing the end of their service life after 23 years in service with the Hellenic Air Force.
As Bloomberg reported, NATO and EU allies began pressuring Spain and Greece back in the summer to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine, primarily PAC-2s.
