German chancellor announces Greece to send infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on the margins of an EU summit in Brussels today that he has reached an agreement with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for Berlin to provide infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to Greece to so that Athens can send Soviet-style BMP IFVs to Ukraine, Reuters reported.

«We will provide Greece with German infantry fighting vehicles,» Scholz told journalists, without specifying the types of IFVs involved.

He said there will be a fast-track deal between the Greek and German defence ministries.

Government informed Parliament after a US announcement

Though defence minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos last week told Parliament that Athens intends to send more arms to Ukraine, there was no official government announcement regarding how much and what type of materiel will be provided.

Panagiotopoulos was responding to a parliamentary question tabled by main opposition SYRIZA after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on 26 May that Greece is among a group of countries – including Italy, Denmark, Norway, and Poland – that will send more arms to Ukraine.

“The military equipment will be supplied from the country’s war reserve stock and will not in the least weaken its defence capability,” the minister had replied.

Reuters quoted an unnamed defence source as saying that Berlin will give Greece 100 old Marder IFVs owned by arms-maker Rheinmetall, even as Athens will offer Kyiv Soviet-style BMP IFVs.