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Germany announces swap deal with Greece for tanks to Ukraine

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="German Marder infantry fighting vehicles in action during in the Defender Europe 2022 military exercise at the Drawsko Pomorskie military range in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland, 06 May 2022. EPA-EFE/Marcin Bielecki " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/06/01/20220601-german-marder-infantry-fighting-vehicles-epa.jpg"/><figcaption>German Marder infantry fighting vehicles in action during in the Defender Europe 2022 military exercise at the Drawsko Pomorskie military range in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland, 06 May 2022. <em>EPA-EFE/Marcin Bielecki</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BRUSSELS, Belgium - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday he had agreed a deal with Greece that would see Athens send Soviet-era military vehicles to Ukraine in exchange for more modern armor from Berlin.</p><p>&quot;We will provide German armored personnel carriers,&quot; Scholz said after an EU summit in Brussels. </p><p>Berlin will send Marder transport tanks to Greece, which in turn will deliver Soviet-era BMP-1 combat tanks to Ukraine, according to Greek media reports.</p><p>&quot;From the first moment, it was clear that we had to make the right choice, that is support Ukraine in all possible ways,&quot; Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday.</p><p>However, he conceded Greece retained &quot;relatively close&quot; ties with Russia for geographical reasons and the traditions of its Orthodox church.</p><p>NATO member Greece sent Ukraine defensive equipment including Kalashnikovs, anti-tank weapons and ammunition in late February, drawing criticism from left-wing opposition parties.</p><p>Main opposition party Syriza said it was &quot;unthinkable&quot; that Scholz announced the tank deal to the Greek people while Mitsotakis had made no mention of it following an EU summit in Brussels.</p><p>Germany has already struck a similar agreement with the Czech Republic to help supply weaponry to Ukraine and is currently negotiating one with Poland. </p><p>The goal is to supply Ukraine with vitally needed weapons from old Soviet-era stocks that it can quickly put into battle as it tries to halt Russia&#x27;s invasion. </p><p>Germany wants to deliver 14 Leopard battle tanks and one Leopard armoured vehicle to Prague in exchange for the Czechs sending T-72 tanks to Ukraine.</p><p>No date has yet been set for the delivery, however.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/28/22/ukraine-says-doing-everything-to-defend-donbas">Ukraine says doing &#x27;everything&#x27; to defend Donbas from Russian onslaught</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/07/22/ukraine-calls-for-more-weapons-at-nato-talks">Ukraine calls for &#x27;weapons, weapons, weapons&#x27; at NATO talks</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/24/22/sweden-to-provide-ukraine-with-5000-more-anti-tank-weapons">Sweden to provide Ukraine with 5,000 more anti-tank weapons: TT news agency</a></li></ul><p>A planned swap with Poland that was meant to see Warsaw receive modern substitutes for equipment sent to Ukraine has also yet to materialize. </p><p>Polish President Andrzej Duda has accused Berlin of not keeping its promises over the hardware.</p><p>The German government has faced criticism from Kyiv and domestic opponents for being too slow in sending weapons to Ukraine.</p><p>kol-hec/imm/jj</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cDX98t7vyQk?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday he had agreed a deal with Greece that would see Athens send Soviet-era military vehicles to Ukraine in exchange for more modern armor from Berlin.