Greece has provided ammunition and 20 BMP-1 armoured vehicles as part of its aid to Ukraine and will continue its support, Defence Minister Nikolaos Panayiotopoulos said at a contact group conference on Ukraine, which was organised on the initiative of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Ministers and other senior officials from 54 countries attended the conference and discussed current developments in Ukraine, while stressing the need for rapid delivery of defence equipment, training of the Ukrainian armed forces and cooperation between the defence industry to fill gaps in defence systems, the Greek military said.
“Panayiotopoulos referred to the humanitarian and defence assistance our country has provided to Ukraine, such as ammunition and, recently, 20 BMP-1 armoured fighting vehicles,” the defence ministry reported.
Panayiotopoulos stressed that Greece would continue to support the struggle of the Ukrainian people. On the sidelines of the contact group meeting, the Greek national defence minister met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, the report said.
Greece was one of the first to send weapons to Ukraine – as early as 27 February 2022, a few days after the start of Russia’s special military operation, it sent 40 tonnes of equipment via Poland in two C-130 aircraft. Thereafter, Greece sent further shipments of weapons and military equipment.
In May 2022, Greece and Germany agreed that Athens would hand over Soviet-era armoured vehicles to Ukraine, while Berlin would provide Athens with its armoured vehicles as a replacement. It was agreed that Greece would hand over the 40 BMP-1s of the East German type received by the Greeks in 1994 and in return receive an equal number of armoured fighting vehicles of the German Marder type. The first BMP-1s were sent to Ukraine in the autumn. The Greek Ministry of Defence has stated that it will send BMPs as it receives the German vehicles.
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