Greece will purchase new military equipment for Ukraine from the Czech Republic this year, according to Greek media reports, as Kyiv looks for sources of vital military equipment in the face of Russian advances and floundering U.S. assistance.
Athens will buy equipment from Prague that will be "transferred directly" to Kyiv, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported. The two countries are negotiating the cost of the equipment ahead of a formal agreement, according to the newspaper.
The equipment will focus on ammunition and air defense, according to the report. Shells and supplies for protecting Ukraine's airspace have been high on Ukraine's wish list from its supporters in the 2-plus-year-old war.
Newsweek has reached out to the Greek and Czech defense ministries for comment via email.
Ukraine is in need of fresh supplies, particularly of ammunition, as Russian forces inch westward in the war-torn country. Kyiv is dependent on Western military aid to sustain its war effort since Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022, but its largest backer, the U.S., has failed to pass a substantial aid package that has languished in Congress for months.
The U.S. Defense Department announced a $300 million injection for Ukraine this month but described the aid as a stop-gap measure falling far short of Kyiv's needs for the coming months.
As infighting over aid dragged on, President Joe Biden's administration offered to donate military equipment, including dozens of M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, to Athens this year. But it came with a condition—Washington maintained its interest in "the defense capabilities that Greece could transfer or sell to Ukraine," Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in a letter to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece agreed to a deal with Germany in September 2022 that it would receive Berlin's Marder vehicles as part of what is known as a "ring exchange," with Athens sending its Soviet-era BMP-1 fighting vehicles to Ukraine.
Greece will supply roughly 2,000 Zuni unguided 127mm air-to-surface rockets, and just under 200 2.75-inch rockets, Kathimerini reported. Athens will also provide about 90,000 90mm anti-tank rounds, unspecified anti-aircraft weapons and 4 million bullets, according to the newspaper. The report suggested Ukraine would also receive 70 M114A1 towed howitzers, which will be key for Ukraine's artillery battle in muddy terrain.
Mitsotakis visited the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa this month and said he "heard the sound of sirens and explosions that took place near us" during the trip with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Reports have suggested that a Russian missile landed between 500 feet and 500 meters of the convoy transporting the two leaders.
The incident, during which neither leader was harmed, raised fears over the possible triggering of NATO's Article 5, should the Greek president have been injured in the strike. Article 5 refers to the collective responsibility of the alliance to respond to an attack on one of its member states as an attack on all, but it is not clear how Mitsotakis' presence in Ukraine would have impacted Article 5.
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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