FT: Greece and Spain pressured to donate Patriot and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine

Ukraine is particularly interested in the S-300 systems maintained by Greece, as Ukrainian forces already have them in their arsenal and have experience operating them

A critical meeting regarding Ukraine and the approval of further aid, military and non-military, will take place today, Monday, in Luxembourg on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Ukraine this month made an urgent appeal to Western allies for seven additional air defense systems, such as the US-made Patriot or the Soviet-developed S-300, as Russia steps up an air and missile campaign against the country’s cities and energy infrastructure.

Greece and Spain in particular face intense pressure from their EU and NATO allies. European leaders personally urged Spanish and Greek prime ministers Pedro Sanchez and Kyriakos Mitsotakis at a summit in Brussels last week to donate air defense systems to Ukraine, according to people briefed on the discussions.

To convince the leaders of Greece and Spain, whose armed forces between them have more than a dozen Patriot systems as well as others such as the S-300, the allies argued that the two countries’ needs are not as great as Ukraine’s and that they face no immediate threats.

It is recalled that Ukraine is reportedly particularly interested in the S-300 systems maintained by Greece, as the Ukrainian forces already have them in their arsenal and have experience in handling them.