FT: Under intense pressure Greece and Spain to send air defense systems to Kiev

Greece and Spain are under intense pressure from European Union and NATO in order to send more air defense systems in Ukraine, as Kiev prepares to ask for further support at the meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers. today is monday the Financial Times reports in their publication.

This month, the Ukrainian side made an urgent appeal to its Western allies for seven additional air defense systems, such as US Patriot missiles or Soviet-style S-300s, as Russia steps up a campaign of air and missile strikes against Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on the “X” platform yesterday Sunday that: “Patriots can be characterized as air defense systems only if they work and save lives, and not if they simply remain immobilized in warehouses.”

The only country that has announced the deployment of a Patriot system is Germany.

What did the EU leaders say? in Mitsotakis and Sanchez

According to the FT, the other EU leaders seized the opportunity at last week’s summit in Brussels to personally urge Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Pedro Sanchez to donate some of their countries’ air defense systems to Ukraine, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.

The leaders of the E.U. they told Mitsotakis and Sanchez that their countries do not need these systems as much as Ukraine, since, they said, Greece and Spain do not face any immediate threat.

“We all know who has them, we all know where they are and we all know who really needs them,” said one of the sources.

Officials said there was less pressure on Poland and Romania, which also have Patriots, to consider sending the weapons to Kiev, given their more vulnerable position on the border with Ukraine.

Ukraine currently has at least three Patriot systems, one from the US and two from Germany.

Kiev also uses long-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the former Soviet Union, including the S-300 and S-200. An enhanced version of the latter was used to shoot down a Russian Tu-22M4 bomber over the Russian region of Stavropol Krai last week, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kiev’s interest in Greek S-300 systems

The pressure for the deployment of air defense systems is expected to intensify at the meeting of the EU foreign and defense ministers. Today is Monday. Kiev appears to have expressed particular interest in Greece’s aging S-300 systems, which Ukrainian forces already have in their arsenal and know how to use.

“There are countries that don’t have an immediate need for their air defense systems, to be perfectly honest,” said an EU diplomat. who participates in the preparations for the meeting. “Each country is asked to decide what it can give elsewhere.”

The defense ministries in Athens and Madrid did not comment to the British newspaper.

However, as “K” had recently written, regarding the anti-aircraft systems, Athens has repeatedly set as a condition for their concession the replacement by a western, functional anti-aircraft system, which will be able to cover the gap that will be created in the air defense of the Aegean islands.

It is noted that, after his meeting with Zelensky last month, Sanchez said that Spain “will transfer new stocks in 2024 to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.”

What does NATO say?

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that he expected new air defense procurement commitments to be “announced shortly”, but did not elaborate on which countries and weapons would be involved.

NATO has conducted an audit of its member states’ air defense capabilities and how they have been developed, Stoltenberg said, adding that “this mapping confirms that there are systems, like the Patriot, that are available to be given to Ukraine.”

The Secretary General of the Alliance made the above statements after a teleconference of NATO Defense Ministers and Volodymyr Zelensky, in which they discussed the shortcomings in the field of air defense.

The foreign and defense ministers are also expected to discuss the crises in the Middle East and Sudan, although Ukraine remains the most pressing issue. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will participate in the video conference.

“The most important discussion will be to find out what member states can do to support Ukrainian air defense. That is the most important thing,” said a senior EU official.

^{Source: Financial Times}