Greece Not Sending Any More Military Equipment to Ukraine — Cabinet of Ministers

The official did not specify whether Athens had previously sent Stinger man-portable air defense systems to Kiev

ATHENS, April 15. /TASS/. Greece is not going to send any more military equipment to Ukraine, Greek government spokesman Ioannis Oikonomou confirmed at a briefing on Friday. The official did not specify whether Athens had previously sent Stinger man-portable air defense systems to Kiev.

The cabinet spokesman was asked whether the government plans to send additional military equipment to Ukraine. "There is nothing new in this direction from what has been done so far. Nothing like that is being discussed," Oikonomou said. He noted that the defense equipment Athens has previously sent to Ukraine does not weaken Greece's own defense capabilities. When asked to clarify whether Greece had sent Stinger man-portable air defense systems to Ukraine taken from active units of the Greek army, Oikonomou said: "It is known what defense equipment was sent along with humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Nothing that has been sent weakens the needs and defense capabilities of our country."

In late February, the Greek Ministry of National Defense reported that Greece had sent humanitarian aid and military equipment to Poland for Ukraine on C-130 military transport planes. Greek TV channel Open then reported that 20,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, confiscated in November 2013 on a ship near the Greek island of Rhodes, in particular, had been sent to Ukraine. Nine years ago, these weapons were seized from the Nour-M ship, which had left a Ukrainian port and was bound for Libya.

Greek National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told Greek lawmakers on April 13 that Greece no longer plans to send military equipment to Ukraine. The minister said Greece's defense of its own territory should not be weakened, especially on the islands, by sending new weapons to Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin on February 24, in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics, made a decision to conduct a special military operation. The DPR and LPR began an operation to liberate their territories, which were under Kiev's control.