S-300 missiles could be sent to Ukraine
The prospect of obtaining a battery of surface-to-air Patriot missiles from the United States allows Greece to reconsider lifting its objections to providing Ukraine with the idling Soviet-made S-300 surface-to-air missiles now based on the island of Crete.
Greece’s objections to requests by Ukraine and the US were partly based on a political calculus – not to upset an already suspicious Russia too much – but also the reluctance of the Americans to deliver a Patriot battery in exchange. But there have been numerous talks about the exchange recently, and Wednesday’s explosion of a Russian missile in Odesa, a few hundred meters from where Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has made Greece less inclined to heed Russian warnings.
But some Greek officials are still dubious about offering Ukraine the S-300s following Zelenskyy’s Friday visit to Istanbul, objecting that Ukraine’s offering Turkey a mediator role in Ukraine, a role which it also had in earlier stages of the war with Russia, as “problematic” for Greek interests.
In any case, the window for giving away the S-300s is rapidly closing, as the system is almost obsolete.
Obtaining the Patriot system would help Greece upgrade its defenses in the eastern Aegean islands, a short distance across the sea from nominal ally Turkey. The present Tor-M1 and Osa-AK systems are too old and their range too limited and vulnerable, especially to unmanned aerial vehicles.
So far, Greece has provided Ukraine with a range of weaponry, including 1,000 64mm anti-tank RPGs, 6 million bullets and 1,050 missiles of various types. It is also expected to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16s other countries will provide.
