Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis denied reports that the government plans to transfer old F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, although his country condemns the Russian Federation and supports the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The head of the Greek government stated this in interview to the Polish Rzeczpospolita, explaining that Greece needs fighters for defense:
“I would like to clarify that we are not ready to provide F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Such information appeared in the media, but it does not correspond to reality.”
He admitted that Greece has historically had strong ties with Russia at the level of culture and religion, but the Kremlin’s policies are not supported in the country:
“Greece is a country that not only respects, but also defends the principles of the international order. And it has always been on the right side of history. This is the case now, as Ukraine defends itself from the brutal Russian invasion… I promised to continue to support Ukraine to the best of our ability “without compromising our own ability to defend ourselves, because we also live in a difficult part of the world.”
Earlier, News Break reported that Ukraine can get up to 32 F-16 fighters from Greece. It was noted that in total Greece plans to sell 108 fighters of various types that are subject to decommissioning.
More Stories
Public opinion poll: 33.3% for ND versus 15.5% for SYRIZA, PASOK in third place with 12.1%
EU sends firefighters to Greece to fight fires
Poll: 30% for ND, K. Velopoulos "sank" up to 7%, A.Latinupulu on the threshold of 3%