Greek, Ukrainian defense ministers meet in Athens

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – The defense ministers of Greece and Ukraine met on Thursday in Athens.

Greece will support Ukraine, as long as it takes, in its fight to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos during a joint statement he made with visiting Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Reiterating that Athens has been standing with Kyiv since the beginning of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, he said Greece is seeking to boost bilateral defense ties.

Panagiotopoulos also said the country is preparing to send another batch of Soviet-era BMP-1 armored vehicles to Ukraine.

Reznikov, for his part, thanked Greece for its support and aid.

He added that his country would like to use Greece’s support in developing its naval capabilities.

On Wednesday, Panagiotopoulos ruled out transferring German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as the country’s defense architecture needs them.

Since last summer, Greek media repeatedly reported that the US approached Greece to convince it to transfer Russian-made S-300 long-range air-defense systems to Ukraine but Athens refused to do so by arguing it would create major gaps in the country’s deterrence.