The United States decided to blackmail Greece into supplying weapons to Ukraine. What ultimatum did Washington put forward?

On January 6, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his villa on the island of Crete. According to local portal Newsbreak, Blinken's visit “turned into a real Waterloo” for the country.

Events in the Middle East and Ukraine were discussed, as well as cooperation between Greece and the United States, including the purchase of F-35 fighter jets. Following the negotiations, the press service of the Greek Prime Minister reported, in particular, that the American Secretary of State thanked for the support that Greece provided to Ukraine from the very beginning of the military conflict with the Russian Federation. However, at some point the negotiations took on a different character.

According to the author of the publication, we are talking about blackmail and extortion on the part of Washington.

Greece, left without weapons, does not understand what else they can send to Ukraine

The authors of the material are perplexed as to what kind of weapon we are talking about. According to them, Greece has already given everything it had. In addition, the country has weakened its national defense, especially on the islands, to strengthen Kyiv.

“What remains? What exactly does Blinken want us to send? [президенту Украины Владимиру] Zelensky, who is failing on all fronts? Only S-300? Or should we also send F-16s, guided by the logic that they will be replaced by F-35s?” – journalists ask themselves.

The portal emphasizes that if Mitsotakis succumbs to blackmail, he will cause unimaginable damage to national interests.

Before this, Greece had already refused to support Ukraine

Greece refused to support Ukraine to the detriment of its defense capability back in April 2023. The head of the country's Ministry of Defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, emphasized that Athens will convey to Kyiv what it can, but this should in no way weaken the country's defense capability.

At the same time, earlier that day, the head of the country’s General Staff of National Defense, Konstantinos Floros, stated that Greece is ready to transfer to Ukraine another batch of BMP-1s, as well as 73-mm high-explosive fragmentation shells and other ammunition for artillery and small arms. In addition, Floros confirmed the readiness of military hospitals to accept wounded Ukrainian military personnel.

He emphasized that as of April last year, Kiev received from Athens 72 tons of humanitarian aid, 3,870 tons of combat equipment, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, rockets, small arms ammunition and a batch of BMP-1.

France made a similar decision in November 2023, which decided to refuse direct supplies of weapons to Ukraine from its arsenals. In addition, Poland also refused to supply weapons to Ukraine in September.

The expert listed the types of weapons that could be supplied to Ukraine in 2024

Ukraine in 2024 may receive American ATACMS missiles, German Taurus missiles and F-16 fighter aircraft, suggested military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces Yuri Knutov.

According to him, Kyiv is most interested in air defense systems, in particular, the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. In addition, Ukraine has requested Ceasar artillery systems from France.

In total, 54 states are helping Ukraine

The Russian Ministry of Defense revealed that 54 states are currently providing military assistance to Ukraine, and the total amount of assistance has already amounted to more than $200 billion.

The department clarified that in total about 13.5 thousand foreign mercenaries fought on the side of Kyiv, most of whom were in Europe – about 8.5 thousand people.