Balkans | Greece announces that there is no official offer for Patriot in exchange for the S-300

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panayotopoulos announced that no official offer had been received from the United States regarding the provision of the Patriot air defense system to Greece in return for sending S-300 missiles owned by his country to Ukraine.

Panayotopoulos, who gave an interview to Newsbomb, evaluated the news that Greece’s S-300 defense systems could be sent to Ukraine.

Panayotopoulos said, “Sending the S-300s to Ukraine is not easy. We have absolutely no intention of weakening our defense force in any way. There are scenarios but no official proposals to replace the defense systems.” Use his statements.

The Greek Minister of Defense stated that the offers of France and Italy regarding the frigate purchase plan meet the needs of the Greek Navy, and said: “Our country desires that every major armament program be accompanied by defense cooperation.” He said.

In the interview, Panayotopoulos also referred to the tripartite meeting held in Brussels on December 16 by the delegations of Turkey, Germany and Greece.

Panayotopoulos described the reopening of communication channels between the two countries’ leaders’ advisors as “good news,” and noted that they had the opportunity to speak with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar within the framework of the NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting.

Panayotopoulos said, “At the level of defense ministers, this channel of communication must remain open. Because in this way, the necessary steps can be taken to relieve stress in a crisis situation, “he said.

The claim that Patriot missiles will be offered in exchange for the S-300s

In the news in the Greek media, it was indicated that if the United States places the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system in Crete, then Greece can send the S-300 air defense systems supplied by Russia to Ukraine.

There was a reaction from Russia to Greece’s plan to send S-300 missiles to Ukraine.

In a written statement following the news in the Greek press, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “We believe that (the Greek administration) has provocative plans to send the S-300 and other Russian and Soviet air defense systems to a hostile Kyiv system.” I used words.

AA