Greece Denies Possibility of Transferring Patriot System to Ukraine

Greek officials have denied media reports suggesting that the possibility of transferring the Patriot system to Ukraine is being considered.

Reuters reported on this.

“There is no question of supplying Ukraine with Patriot systems from Greece,” a government official told Reuters.

Thus, the officials refuted information from The New York Times about the possibility of supplying another system from Greece.

The Greek government’s reluctance to provide air defense systems, including Soviet-era systems, to Ukraine as military aid is unsurprising, as it has been a consistent policy since 2022.

Greek Air Defense Systems for Ukraine

The Hellenic Armed Forces have the Tor SAM system and 19 Osa SAM systems in the Osa-AK version, along with 20 modernized to the Osa-AKM version, at its disposal. The Hellenic Air Force is equipped with several divisions (12 launchers) of the S-300PMU1 SAM system.

Ukraine first requested the supply of Soviet-era air defense systems from Greece back in 2022, but was refused. This was due to Greece’s reluctance to weaken its defense capabilities. Additionally, Russia maintains a licensing agreement with the end user, under which Greece is prohibited from exporting these systems to third countries without Moscow’s approval.

However, when the United States later in 2022 offered compensation for transferring air defense systems to Ukraine, Greece responded positively, but requested the Patriot air defense system to replace the S-300.

“If the United States deploys the Patriot system on the island and integrates it with the national air defense system, the S-300 can be removed,” Greece’s Defense Minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, said at the time.

In August 2023, it was announced that the Greek government had canceled funding for Soviet-era air defense systems’ support and maintenance programs. According to documents, maintenance and repairs were to be carried out by Russian specialists on equipment from the Tor-M1 and Osa-AK systems. These systems’ 9S737 Ranzhir-M mobile command centers were also scheduled for integration.

In early 2024, the U.S. government again approached Greece with a proposal for initial additional funding for the Greek armed forces, up to $200 million, until an assessment of the air defense systems could be conducted, on the condition that Greece agreed to transfer them to Ukraine.

However, in November 2024, it was reported that instead of Ukraine, the Greek government was working on the issue of transferring its own Soviet-era air defense systems to Armenia.

It is reported that the country’s military leadership is determined to phase out Soviet-made weapon systems. However, earlier plans to transfer weapons to Ukraine were revised due to pressure from the political opposition and a “lack of initiative” from Western partners, who showed little interest in offering compensation for Western equivalents.

It is also noted that with the start of deliveries of Western air defense systems, the Ukrainian government has allegedly “lost interest” in offers involving Soviet and Russian weaponry.

The Greek government views strengthening Armenia as a means of leverage in its confrontation with Turkey, which has long supported Azerbaijan in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. The transfer of equipment is expected to be preceded by the delivery of new Israeli systems, which are scheduled to become operational in 2026.