Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has called for an immediate end to the war in Ukraine without any conditions and called on both Russia and Ukraine to begin negotiations.
Foreign Minister Dendias made his statements on the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine saying, “What we ask is for this war to end immediately, completely and with no conditions because this is the only way for real dialogue to begin.”
He stated that both sides should have a dialogue based on the principles of the charter of the United Nations and added that international law needed to be respected and implemented, Ekathimerini reports.
“The Greeks do not have feelings of hostility for the Russian people. The thing we are against is revisionism and the created tragedy. Greece and its allies will continue to support Ukraine for as long as this irrational war continues,” he added.
The comments come after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that Greece would not be sending Russian-made S-300 anti-air missile systems to Ukraine as the country currently has nothing to replace them with.
Ukraine is currently facing difficulties in the city of Bakhmut as fierce fighting has seen Russian forces advance around the city in recent weeks, spearheaded by PMC Wagner, a private military contractor.
According to a Finnish military officer, however, Ukraine lacks the skill to push back against Russian forces and predicted that despite Russia taking heavy casualties, they will not lose the war.
“The Russian troops have learned, but the Ukrainians have not,” the officer told broadcaster Yle this week and spoke of the Ukrainian troops, saying they had “really bad leadership, poor tactical and combat technical skills. They have taken an example mainly from video games and movies.”
“It seems that Russia has an initiative. One could almost say that Ukraine is about to lose the war if nothing decisive happens,” he said and claimed that Ukraine retaking Crimea was “wishful thinking.”
“Russia will not lose this war, because Russia is a nuclear power. If Ukraine were to launch a major offensive against Crimea, then Russia would likely use a tactical nuclear weapon,” he said and added, “This is not the end of Ukraine, but the border is changing. It must be accepted, as it was in the Winter War. There is nothing you can do about it.”