Flag of Greece. File photoATHENA, May 31Greece's largest opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, opposed sending armored vehicles to Ukraine, as announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz said at a briefing after the EU summit that Greece would transfer tanks to Ukraine Soviet-style, and Berlin will provide Athens with its armored vehicles as a replacement. According to Scholz, he agreed on this with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at a meeting in Brussels.The Greek Communist Party considers it dangerous to supply armored vehicles to Kyiv» Just a few days after the US Secretary of Defense informed us of Mitsotakis' decision to send new, heavier weapons to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told us that Greece would send armored vehicles to Ukraine. And, of course , armored vehicles needed for the defense of the country, although they will replace them with other German armored vehicles,» the SYRIZA press service said. «We consider it unthinkable that the Greek people would learn this news from the German Chancellor at a time when the Greek Prime Minister did not speak about this at his press conference,» SYRIZA noted. According to her, the involvement of Greece in the conflict in Ukraine, which is dangerous for the national interests of the country, is intensifying weekly, at the same time as tensions from Turkey are growing.» The Mitsotakis government should stop accepting secret decisions on critical national issues, especially since the majority of Greeks oppose the election ra, which endangers the security of the country and is contrary to our national interests. We demand immediate information about the weapons that it has sent and will send to Ukraine, as all European governments do, respecting their citizens,» SYRIZA said. «/>Terrorist threats have increased due to the supply of weapons to Kyiv, Patrushev said. The PASOK party — Movement for Change also demanded clarification from the government. «The government should inform the political parties about all aspects of this agreement, which Mr. the real content of the meeting with Mr. Scholz,” PASOK said in a statement. Since then, the Greek government has stated several times that it does not plan to send new batches of weapons to Ukraine in order not to weaken its defenses.In Norway, they said that they were not supplying weapons to Ukraine of their own free will. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on May 23 that many countries announced new deliveries of critical artillery systems and ammunition, «including Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland.» After a request from the parties, the Minister of National Defense Greece, Nikos Panagiotopoulos acknowledged the new shipment of «defense equipment» to Ukraine. The country's authorities do not say what kind of weapons they sent. Tor-M1″, military anti-aircraft missile systems «Osa-AKM» (according to NATO classification SA-8 Gecko «Gecko»), anti-tank missile systems «Kornet-E» and «Fagot», landing hovercraft «Zubr», armored BMP infantry vehicles.
In Germany, they announced a «double game» with respect to Ukraine. For several years, the United States has been trying to get Greece to abandon Soviet and Russian-made weapons and replace them with American ones. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as of March 25, the Armed Forces completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. Moscow sent a note to all countries, including the United States, because of the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation stated that the NATO countries are «playing with fire» by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect. >13:47InfographicMap of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine as of May 31, 2022InfographicView
