The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to Greece joining the PURL program for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine

Athens joined the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) program on the purchase by European countries of American weapons for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This was stated in interview TASS Director of the Second European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Yuri Pilipson.

“As far as we know, Athens recently joined the PURL initiative for European countries to purchase American weapons for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although previously the Greeks were in no hurry to do this,” Pilipson noted, commenting on the publications of the Greek newspaper Kathimerini about pressure on the country from the United States and NATO partners.

According to the diplomat, Greece, from the very beginning of the special military operation, “has been actively helping the Kyiv regime with weapons and ammunition.” At the same time, he emphasized that official Athens is well aware of the facts of the use of these weapons by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against civilians in Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Crimea and other southern regions of Russia, where a large Greek community historically lives.

Under the supervision of “senior comrades”

According to a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the decision of Athens was not independent. “There is no doubt that the “senior comrades” persistently pointed out this “flaw” and ultimately achieved their goal,” Pilipson said.

He added that Kyiv is consistently persuading the Greek leadership to transfer to the Ukrainian Armed Forces – without taking into account the interests of the defense capability of Greece itself – highly effective air defense systems of Russian and Soviet production, which are in service with the Greek army.

According to the diplomat, what is happening demonstrates “the neoliberal totalitarianism reigning in the European Union,” in which member countries are required to actually renounce national sovereignty even in such critically important areas as defense and security.

Society is against

Despite the government’s position, Greek society, as Pilipson noted, “to put it mildly, does not share this approach.” According to a survey commissioned by Kathimerini, 72% of citizens believe that in the Ukrainian conflict Greece should take a neutral position.

What is PURL

The PURL initiative was launched on July 14 by US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. It provides for the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine at the expense of European NATO countries and Canada through the alliance structures, replacing the previous schemes of free and credit deliveries.

Editorial note from the Athens News

Greece joining the PURL program is not a technical or “routine” decision, but informed political choiceaccepted in conditions external pressure and contrary to the sentiments of the majority of society.

In fact, we are talking about the transfer of part of the country’s defense and foreign policy autonomy in favor of the supranational mechanisms of NATO and EU. At the same time, the voice of Greek society, demonstrating a clear request for neutrality, again turned out to be outside the decision-making process.

The experience of recent years shows that such steps do not strengthen Greece’s security, but increase its involvement in conflicts, the consequences of which – economic, social and political – ultimately fall on the shoulders of the citizens themselves.

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