The Greek government has confirmed that a “cyclical” arms deal has been sealed under which Greece will receive from Germany 40 Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) and in turn will send to Ukraine 40 Soviet-made TOMA BMP-1 IFVs.
The cyclical scheme when it was first announced appeared to be designed for Germany to avoid sending arms directly to Ukraine, and was agreed to in early June by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Now, however, Germany is delivering arms directly to Ukraine.
There was no joint statement at the time, and instead Scholz was first to publicly announce the arrangement on 31 May, and the Greek defence ministry subsequently confirmed it.
‘Bolstering Kyiv’s defences’
The Greek defence ministry announced today that pursuant to the Scholz-Mitsotakis agreement, Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his German counterpart, Christine Lambrecht, in order to bolster Kyiv’s defences, agreed that Athens will deliver to Ukraine 40 BMP-1 IFVs, which will be replaced by 40 MARDER IFVs that Germany will deliver to Greece.
Yesterday, Lambrecht announced in Berlin that the exchange has almost been completed
Speaking at a conference of the Bundeswehr (the German Armed Forces), Lambrecht said that Germany will also deliver multiple-launch rocket systems to Kyiv.
“We have decided to deliver two more MARS II multiple-launch rocket systems, including 200 rockets, to Ukraine,” the German defence minister said, noting that the training of the Ukrainian operators is expected to begin this month.
“Moreover, we shall send 50 [German heavily] armoured Dingo [infantry mobility vehicles] to Ukraine,” she added.
Zakharova warns US of ‘red line’
Meanwhile, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova yesterday warned that if the US decides to provide Kyiv with longer range missiles, it will have crossed Moscow’s red line, and will be viewed as a “party to the conflict”.
Ukraine is already using American HIMARs (high mobility artillery rocket systems) with a 92km firing range.
“Russia reserves the right to defend its territory,” Zakharova said.
