Greece in talks to send one Patriot battery to Ukraine, but seeks US security assurance first
Greece may hand over a Patriot air defense system to Ukraine on the condition of monetary compensation from the US and security guarantees due to the threat from Turkiye, reported the Greek outlet Рronews with reference to government sources in the country.
According to the agency's interlocutors, Athens will hand over one Patriot Pac 3 battery to Ukraine, which can shoot down ballistic targets, in exchange for security guarantees from the United States. The journalists do not specify what security guarantees the country received.
In addition, if necessary, Washington will be able to transfer the Patriot to Greece from its own reserves, replacing it with the one that Athens will transfer to Kyiv, or provide monetary compensation from the aid package of more than $60 billion after the decision of the Senate and the signature of US President Joe Biden.
Greece will hand over only one battery to Ukraine, but later Kyiv will be able to receive a second one. Journalists claim that such a decision is likely to cause controversy within the country.
On April 22, the Financial Times wrote that some EU and NATO member states are putting pressure on Greece and Spain to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems.
On the same day, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that Ukraine is currently working on the delivery of four additional Patriot air defense systems.
On April 6, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needs 25 Patriot systems — six to eight batteries in each — to completely cover the country's skies.
On April 10, EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU is not doing enough to support Ukraine, because European armies have about 100 Patriot batteries.
On April 13, Germany undertook to provide Ukraine with one more Patriot system. On April 18, the executive director of the German defense company Diehl Defence announced that Ukraine will receive an additional IRIS-T system.
On April 19, the Ministry of Defense of Germany announced that following the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, there are positive signals from the allies regarding the search and transfer of additional air defense systems to Ukraine.