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Athens rules out supplying Leopard tanks to Ukraine so as not to alter the Greek "defensive strategy"

ATHENS/TOKIO, 31 En.

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Athens rules out supplying Leopard tanks to Ukraine so as not to alter the Greek "defensive strategy"

ATHENS/TOKIO, 31 En. (DPA/EP) -

The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, confirmed on Tuesday that the Mediterranean country will not supply Leopard model battle tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces due to tensions with Turkey.

"We will not send Leopard 2 for the simple reason that they are absolutely necessary for our defensive strategy," Mitsotakis said during a visit to Japan, according to state television ERT.

Greece is the European country with the largest fleet of Leopard main battle tanks - some 350 Leopard 1 and another 500 more of the Leopard 2, a more modern model - however, it prefers not to get rid of any due to the threats that they feel on the part of Turkey, also a member of the Atlantic Alliance.

Relations between Athens and Ankara have further soured in recent weeks over the dispute over sovereignty of numerous inhabited and uninhabited Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean.