Greece will not compromise defense, spokesman says following FT report
Greece has reacted to a report in the Financial Times suggesting that the government in Athens faces significant pressure to supply air defense systems to Ukraine, clarifying that no action would be taken that might compromise the country’s deterrent capability.
“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,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told a press briefing Monday.
“We have consistently refuted such claims in the past, and I reiterate our stance emphatically today,” he added.
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 reportedly told that their own needs were not as pressing as Ukraine’s and that they were not currently facing imminent threats.
In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “‘Patriots’ can only be called air defense systems if they work and save lives rather than standing immobile somewhere in storage bases.”
