Pressure on Athens to show willingness to make concessions German tanks Leopard in the practice of the armed forces of Ukraine Washington and Kyiv.

In particular, in recent contacts, Athens is invited to provide a symbolic number – 2 or 3 – tanks to put pressure on Berlinwhich currently refuses to agree to the export of “Leopards” from Poland to Ukraine, in fact setting the condition that the Americans send their counterparts “Abrams” to Kyiv.

Essentially, Athens is asking for a diplomatic gesture (along with others from the Netherlands, Finland, and elsewhere) that will result in Berlin deciding to allow Poland to hand over its Leopards to Ukraine — while the Germans refuse to agree.

It is worth noting that the export of any weapon system without an end user license (end user license agreement) is unthinkable. In such a case, the sanctions that the exporting State would face would in fact gradually render any weapon system completely useless, as the accompanying contracts for maintenance and spare parts would be immediately cancelled. In addition, the end user licensed state can also sue internationally.

From Ukraine and the USA – the Greek side keeps the cards closed for now.

Whether Greece will join this process is still unknown, since such a gesture would de facto mean friction with Berlin, and it is not at all clear whether the government is in such a phase, especially in a clearly pre-election period. The choice to represent Greece at an unusually low level at today’s meeting of states supporting Ukraine at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany (Ukraine Defense Contact Group) in the presence of the Minister of Defense may indicate the true intentions of the government. NATO Jens Stoltenberg and coordinated by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The Greek search for “Leopards” is not a bolt from the blue. The first relevant request from Kyiv to Athens was filed in March last year, a month after the start of the war in Ukraine. At the time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces needed more than defensive weaponry, and the request was denied relatively quickly.

The debate about the need to quickly reinforce Ukraine with tanks comes amid broader concerns that Moscow is about to launch a final, extended offensive in the near future to maximize its territorial gains, and the need, of course, for Kyiv to be able to effectively counter such, if not reinforce existing land grabs in the eastern territory.