Greece refuses to hand over Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine despite pressure from the US and NATO
The US and NATO are increasing pressure on Greece to hand over some Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine as part of the PURL initiative, while Athens prefers the delivery of obsolete weapons and refuses to hand over high-tech aircraft. This is reported by Kathimerini.
European and NATO allies have intensified their persistent calls for the Greek government to speed up the transfer of part of its Mirage 2000-5 to Kyiv. The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative provides for the resale of critical weapons that could strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities against Russian forces.
Athens has faced similar demands before, but the current pressure has been especially intensified by the US, France and Eastern European countries, which are insisting on a real contribution from Greece to support Ukraine through the provision of modern combat aircraft. However, the Greek government does not want to transfer modern high-tech aircraft to Kyiv and instead offers outdated models, including 60 M-110 self-propelled howitzers of 203 mm caliber, which have been in service since the 1960s.
If Greece agrees to the demands of the allies, part of the Mirage 2000-5 can be sold to third countries – the USA, France, Germany, the Czech Republic or Estonia, after which the intermediaries will resell these aircraft to Ukraine or provide similar weapons systems.
We will remind you that the PURL mechanism was developed by the USA and NATO to accelerate the transfer of critical weapons to Ukraine at the expense of partners’ contributions, so the pressure on Greece is part of a broader strategy to support Kyiv.
