In an interview with Rzeczpospolita, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed his country’s stance on the war in Ukraine. Mitsotakis stated that Greece has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, but is not prepared to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets citing Greek tensions with Türkiye.

Mitsotakis was clear that Greece is not prepared to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, despite media reports to the contrary.

“First of all, I would like to clarify that we are not ready to transfer F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Such information has appeared in the media, but it is not true,” the Greek leader stated.

The Greek Prime Minister, however, reiterated Greece’s commitment to further support Ukraine:

“However, I will emphasize that we have supported and continue to support Ukraine. We made this decision at the very beginning of the [full-scale] invasion. Greece is a country that not only respects, but also defends the principles of the international order. And it has always been on the right side of history. This is also the case now, when Ukraine is defending itself against a brutal Russian invasion,” Mitsotakis said.

While Greece has historical and cultural ties with Russia, Mitsotakis made clear that his government is firmly opposed to the Kremlin regime’s actions, saying:

“With Russia, we have historically strong ties, cultural, religious, but we are definitely opposed to the Kremlin regime,” he said.