The government again denies the S-300 in Ukraine

Athens says a new “no” to the donation of S-300s to Ukraine, despite pressure from allies and partners in the European Union.

Asked by NEWS 24/7 if the government is discussing this possibility, on the occasion of a Financial Times article about related pressures in Athens, the government representative, Pavlos Marinakisin principle meaningfully reminded that our country supports Ukraine, referred to the Prime Minister’s visit there and emphasized:

“There is not going to be any move that will even in the least endanger the country’s deterrent capability or air defense. We have many times made denials. I answer you categorically even today.”

It is worth noting that the government has also denied similar rumors a month ago that talked about granting air defense systems to Ukraine.

Asked to answer specifically if the issue was indeed raised with Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the extraordinary EU Summit, as the Financial Times writes, Mr. Marinakis stated sharply: “I am not aware of any pressure.”

The Financial Times article

As reported by the Financial Times, Greece and Spain they are under intense pressure from their allies to the EU and NATO to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine, as Kiev prepares to ask for more help at a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers today, Monday.

Kiev issued an urgent appeal this month to Western allies for seven additional air defense systemssuch as the American-made Patriot or the Soviet-made S-300, as Russia steps up its air and missile attack against the country’s cities and energy infrastructure.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskywrote on social media platform X on Sunday: “Patriots can only be called air defense systems if they are working and saving lives, rather than sitting idle somewhere in storage bases.”

Only Germany has announced the deployment of a Patriot system.

Other EU leaders used last week’s Brussels summit to to personally urge the Prime Ministers of Spain and Greece Pedro Sanchez and Kyriakos Mitsotakis to donate some of their systems to Ukraine, according to people briefed on the discussions and cited by the Financial Times.

The two leaders, whose armed forces have more than a dozen Patriot systems as well as other weapons systems such as the S-300, were told that their needs were not as great as Ukraine’s and that they faced no immediate threat. “We all know who has them, we all know where they are and we all know who really needs them” one of them stated.

Officials stated that less pressure is applied to Poland and Romaniawhich also have Patriots, to consider sending missions to Kiev, given their more vulnerable position on the border with Ukraine.

Ukraine currently has at least three Patriot systems, including one procured from the US and two from Germany, before Berlin’s announcement last week.

Kiev also has long-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the former Soviet Union, including the S-300 and S-200 systems. An upgraded version of the latter was used to shoot down a Russian Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber over Russia’s Stavropol Krai region last week, according to Ukrainian officials.

Air defense interceptor systems are likely to be included in the new US aid package approved by the House of Representatives on Saturday.

Pressures to donate systems will intensify at the meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of all 27 EU member states in Luxembourg on Monday, officials said. Kiev is believed to be particularly interested in Greece’s aging S-300 systems, which Ukrainian forces already have in their arsenal and have relevant experience.

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