Politico: Greece, Spain will not send air defense systems to Ukraine

The race to send air defense batteries to Ukraine is on, but they don’t appear to be coming from Spain or Greece, Politico reports.

Madrid will not send one of its three Patriots to Ukraine, Spanish news agency El País reports, and is instead committed to sending only missiles that can be used in existing versions of the surface-to-air system.

Although the extra firepower would be welcome, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country could not afford seven high-quality arrays of missile-launching air defense systems needed to protect cities and critical infrastructure from Russian attacks.

The allies had hoped Spain could send air defense systems as Kiev tries to fend off an invasion by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Athens also refuses to promise a system, given its security concerns with Turkey. “Greece is not going to send S-300 or Patriot to Ukraine,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during an interview with SKAI late Thursday night.

In recent days, Greek media had reported that a swap deal might be possible, whereby the United States would agree to replace either a Patriot system based in Athens or an inactive Soviet-era S-300 system stationed in island of Crete so that they can be sent to Ukraine.

“We asked and explained why we can’t do it,” Mitsotakis said, explaining that the systems are “critical to our deterrent capability.”

Germany’s attitude

Germany, which has promised Ukraine three of the Patriot arrays, has led the effort to pressure countries to donate their unused systems. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said this week he “expects” countries to make the pledge, adding that he “cannot understand” the refusal of countries such as Spain and Greece.

On Friday, about 50 countries will meet via video conference for US-led talks to coordinate further military aid. In addition to Spain, Greece and Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland have Patriot systems in their reserves.