Greece won't be sending any missiles for S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine, states parliament spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis, and "categorically denies" any media reports about preparations to such military transfers taking place.
Although the source, Parapolitika.gr news portal mentions only missiles for S-300, Defense Express carefully assumes that the systems themselves are also implied because the media coverage prompting the reaction from the Athens official was centered around the whole fire units of S-300.
Read more: Greece Prepares to Transfer S-300 Missile Systems to Ukraine: What Will Be Received in Return?
"There must be a limit to fake news, especially when it has to do with the interests of the country and its international image. There is no such thing and I categorically deny that. There was not even the intention that Greece would risk the defense of the country," Pavlos Marinakis said.
Earlier media assumed that Greece had already approved the transfer of S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. Such reports appeared after the United States allegedly offered a beneficial deal: in exchange for Soviet weapons in the Greek arsenal, the U.S. would approve the sale of F-35A stealth fighters to Athens. Apart from that, Washington is tempting with a provision of military transport aircraft, engines for patrol aircraft, dozens of Bradley IFVs (free of charge), and a sale offer for three frigates.
But so far Greece has shown no signs of interest, officially. Apart from S-300PMU1, the country also has other air defense assets: Tor-M1 and Osa-M1 SAM systems, as many as 500 ZU-23-2 guns, though some of them are installed on BMP-1 combat vehicles.
Read more: What are the 300-500 km Range Missiles Ukraine Expects Alongside the F-16?
