Financial Times: Greece and Spain pressured by the EU to give S-300 and Patriot to Ukraine

“Greece and Spain are under pressure to provide Ukraine with air defense systems,” reports the Financial Times, noting that EU leaders are urging Athens and Madrid to go ahead with the move “as Kiev’s needs are greater than theirs.”

The publication is made on the occasion of Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg noting that during the meeting Kiev would ask for “more help”.

“There is not going to be any move that will endanger the air defense of our country”, said Pavlos Marinakis

As the FT points out, “Kiev this month made an urgent appeal to Western allies for seven additional air defense systems, such as US-made Patriot or Soviet-developed S-300s, as Russia steps up its air and missile campaign against cities and infrastructure energy of the country”.

The article also notes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s post on X on Sunday that “Patriots can only be called air defense systems if they work and save lives instead of standing still in storage bases somewhere.”

As pointed out in the FT, only Germany has announced the deployment of the Patriot system so far.

The publication mentions, among other things, that the defense ministries of Greece and Spain refused to comment on anything in their communication with the Financial Times.

“The most important discussion will be to determine what member states can do to support Ukraine’s air defense. That is the most important thing,” a senior EU official told the FT.

What does Athens say?

It is worth noting that diplomats, speaking to in, acknowledge the pressures, but also the effort to create a climate in favor of sending additional aid to Ukraine as well as anti-aircraft systems. They note that Germany’s move could also be characterized as a move to set an example for the rest. With Paris and Berlin leading the effort to bolster Kiev with anti-aircraft systems.

At the same time, diplomatic sources in Athens emphasize that Greece has already helped Ukraine and will continue to provide assistance, but “to the extent of its capabilities”. With competent military sources also declaring that no weapon system can be sent to Ukraine unless it is replaced.

Besides, when asked about this, the government representative Pavlos Marinakis, during the briefing of the political editors, replied: “So far we have practically shown our support to Ukraine, however there is not going to be any move that will endanger the air defense of our country.”