Ukraine will import gas from Greece to help secure its energy supply for the coming winter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
The Ukrainian leader said the deal “will be another gas supply route to secure imports for the winter as much as possible.” The agreement will “cover nearly €2 billion needed for gas imports to compensate for the losses in Ukrainian production caused by Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Zelenskyy was in Athens Sunday to meet with Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Ukraine is also preparing a deal with France for “a significant strengthening of our combat aviation, air defense and other defense capabilities,” said Zelenskyy, who is set to travel to Paris on Monday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.
After visiting France on Monday, Zelenskyy will travel to Spain on Tuesday. Spain is “another strong country that has joined the partners in the initiatives that really help us,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy did not mention a specific deal with Madrid in the statement, but he said in a separate post on X: “Tuesday — talks in Spain on bolstering our air defense and initiatives with partners.”
“Our top priorities today are air defense, systems and missiles for air defense,” Zelenskyy said in the statement.
“Full financing will be secured” for the Greek deal from Ukrainian government funds, funding from European banks with guarantees from the European Commission, and from Ukrainian banks, with help from “European partners” including Norway, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv is also undertaking “active work” with partners in the U.S., he said.
Ukraine is also working with Poland and Azerbaijan on energy supplies, and “we very much count on long-term contracts,” Zelenskyy said.