NATO and the European Union are pressuring Greece to provide Ukraine with additional air defense assets, including “Patriot” missiles.
This is reported by the Greek newspaper eKathimerini, citing sources.
Ukraine has asked Greece to provide up to 200 PAC-2 missiles, which are in service with Greece’s “Patriot” systems, according to sources. Ukrainian officials believe that some of the missiles, which have been in service with the Greek Air Force for 23 years, may be reaching the end of their service life.
Previous negotiations on the transfer of six Greek “Patriot” systems to Ukraine did not result in a deal. Currently, requests from Ukraine are focused on missile stocks, not complexes.
One proposal currently being discussed by Ukraine’s partners would see Greece selling the missiles to Norway, which would then transfer them to Kyiv. However, Greek officials say they are already contributing to the security of their allies: they have deployed Patriot systems in Saudi Arabia, where they are protecting oil refineries.
- Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has previously said that Ukraine is in dire need of additional Patriot missiles. After the Russian shelling of Kyiv in early July, he wrote to nearly 40 partner countries asking them to urgently deliver “Patriot” missiles to Ukraine this month. Kyiv has already signed a contract for hundreds of PAC-2 missiles for “Patriot” with German support, but they will begin to be delivered over the next few years.
- Ukraine also wants to obtain licenses to produce anti-ballistic air defense systems from the United States. At the NATO summit in Ankara, which took place on July 7-8, US President Donald Trump said that Kyiv would receive licenses to produce “Patriot”.
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