Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed Tuesday that the Mediterranean country will not supply Leopard model battle tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces due to tensions with Turkey.
«We will not send Leopard 2 for the simple reason that they are absolutely necessary for our defensive strategy,» Mitsotakis said during a visit to Japan, as reported by state-run ERT television.
Greece is the European country with the largest fleet of Leopard battle tanks — some 350 Leopard 1 and 500 more of the more modern Leopard 2 — but it prefers not to dispose of any because of the threats it feels from Turkey, also a member of the Atlantic Alliance.
Relations between Athens and Ankara have been further strained in recent weeks over the dispute over the sovereignty of numerous inhabited and uninhabited Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean area.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
