On Thursday, March 7, Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a message of support for Ukraine following an attempted Russian missile attack which took place hundreds of metres of himself and the Ukraine president.
Ekathimerini reported that this then resulted in the missile landing into port infrastructure in the Black Sea of Odesa.
In a speech at the two-day conference of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Bucharest, Romania, Mitsotakis said “No one will intimidate us”.
“I think we all have a message for the Kremlin: we will not be afraid, we will continue to support Ukraine and its brave citizens for as long as it takes. And we remain united on this issue,” Mitsotakis said.
Ευχαριστώ τον Πρόεδρο της Ουκρανίας @ZelenskyyUa για τη θερμή υποδοχή και τη φιλοξενία σήμερα στην Οδησσό. Η Ελλάδα θα εξακολουθεί να στηρίζει την Ουκρανία στον δίκαιο αγώνα για την προάσπιση της εθνικής της ακεραιότητας. https://t.co/0m6n0O4P8a pic.twitter.com/6IfILDJl0k
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) March 6, 2024
Mitsotakis further added that the EU exhibited determination in backing Ukraine with a united front.
“Our enemies did not expect this. We support Ukraine financially and militarily, we impose sanctions on Russia,” he said.
“We are sending a message that no violation of sovereign rights and international law will be accepted by the European family.”
The alleged attack took place at 11:45 am on Wednesday, March 6, when the Greek and Ukrainian delegations were on a tour of the historic port of Odesa.
The strike resulted in the deaths of five individuals and injuries to several others, yet neither of the two delegations reported any casualties.
Despite the explosion that took place, the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greece’s President, Kyriakos Mitsotakis went ahead.
A Ukrainian diplomatic adviser, Ihor Zhovkva also commented on the attack.
“It really was less than 500 meters from us. What was that? … You cannot exclude it was directed at the delegation of my president or the delegation of foreign guest,” Ihor Zhovkva told CNN Live.
“It took the missile less than three minutes to reach the target, the site of the port of Odesa.
“Have we had enough air defence; this ballistic missile could have been intercepted.”
Source: Ekathimerini.
