Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the information about plans to transfer to Ukraine Russian-made air defence systems currently in service with Greece

As of late, the Greek authorities have been talking more often about their readiness to transfer to  Ukraine the S-300PMU-1 surface-to-air missile systems deployed on Crete in exchange for additional US-made Patriot missile systems.

We consider the provocative plans to deliver the S-300s and other air defence systems made in Russia/the Soviet Union to the Kiev regime to be a blatantly aggressive move against Russia. The opinion of Greek citizens is being ignored, while 70 percent of them, according to public opinion polls, speak against sending Ukraine weapons.

Official Athens does not care that by sending weapons to the combat zone, it becomes a direct accomplice of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis who have waged a criminal war against the civilians of Donbass, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, including the numerous ethnic Greeks who live there.

Let us remind you that, in addition to the above, it is a blatant violation of the Russian-Greek intergovernmental agreements on military-technical cooperation of October 30, 1995, and on delivering military related products of December 3, 2013, which explicitly prohibit Greece from re-exporting our military equipment to third parties without Russia’s consent. The violation of contractual obligations will inevitably have consequences in addition to a significant weakening of Greece’s air defence capabilities.

Evident is also the Greek party’s complete indifference towards international restrictions on weapons trade, which do not allow for exporting them to regions where it can lead to the violation of international humanitarian law and to aggravating conflicts.

Finally, there should be no doubt that all military equipment supplied to Kiev will be promptly traced and destroyed by the Russian Armed Forces. While there is yet time, such dangerous plans should be abandoned. Once again, we are warning the Greek authorities of the responsibility for this action.