Mitsotakis: Greece will not be able to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Greece will not supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

This was stated by the Greek Prime Minister to the Japanese edition. Nikkei Asia during the interview:

“We cannot provide Leopard 2 tanks for the simple reason that they are necessary for our own defense strategy. We have also always made it clear that we are ready to support Ukraine, but not to the detriment of our defense capabilities.”

Mr. Mitsotakis noted that the reason for this approach is the aggravated relations between Greece and Turkey over the dispute over the ownership of territories in the Aegean Sea. In an exclusive interview on Tuesday in Tokyo, Kyriakos Mitsotakis criticized Ankara for not imposing sanctions on Moscow and refusing to ratify Sweden and Finland joining the military alliance:

“Turkey’s position in NATO has disappointed many, many NATO members, and this has nothing to do with the peculiarities of the Greek-Turkish bilateral agenda. It is very beneficial for her that she has special economic relations [с Россией]. If you belong to an alliance that is also an alliance of values, you cannot sit on the fence.”

During a conversation with reporters, the Prime Minister of Greece also noted:

“I am not worried about a possible conflict with Turkey. But I am concerned that Turkey’s foreign policy over the past few years has become more revisionist and more aggressive, which I consider inappropriate at a time when we are dealing with a flagrant violation of international law in Ukraine.

Greece is known to have the largest number of Leopard tanks in Europe: approximately 350 Leopard 2 and 500 Leopard 1.

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