TSAMTO, April 6. Greece will not supply Leopard-2A6 tanks to Ukraine, as well as Russian-made S-300 air defense systems.
This, according to RIA Novosti, was announced by the Minister of National Defense of Greece Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos at a meeting of the permanent parliamentary commission on national Defense and foreign Affairs, the text of the speech was distributed by the press service of the Ministry of Defense.
"Greece will not send the Leopard-2A6 MBT to Ukraine. Athens has sent several dozen BMP-1s to Kiev and should send a few more (in general, Greece has pledged to supply the APU with 40 BMP-1s in exchange for German Marder – approx. TSAMTO). In addition, Kiev has been supplied with ammunition of various calibers. If we have opportunities from the surplus, we will help," Panagiotopoulos said, answering the deputies' questions.
"Our position is clear and unambiguous from the first moment. We are giving what we can give, we are not giving anything that could weaken our own defense capability in the slightest, given the challenges of our own national security," the minister said.
According to the open press, Greece is armed with 353 Leopard-2 tanks, of which 183 Leopard-2A4 tanks and 170 Leopard-2A6 HEL tanks.
In total, Greece has more than 1,240 tanks in its arsenal, including 520 Leopard 1A5/GR tanks and almost 400 American M48A5 MOLF, the agency reports.
In recent months, the Greek media have been constantly discussing the transfer of Russian-made weapons to Ukraine.
According to Panagiotopoulos, the United States has long asked Greece to provide the S-300. "But we said that we could not grant this request because we could in no way provide any assistance by weakening our defenses," he explained.
At the same time, the Minister acknowledged that it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain Russian or Soviet-made weapons systems.
As RIA Novosti reminds, in December 2022, Panagiotopoulos said that there was no official proposal to replace the S-300 with the American Patriot, and the manufacturer's permission is required to send the S-300 to Ukraine, which is unlikely.
