Greece to Bolster Military Amid Tensions With Turkey

Greek and French vessels sail in formation during a joint military exercise in Mediterranean sea, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on August 13, 2020. Greek Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS
Greek and French vessels sail in formation during a joint military exercise in Mediterranean sea, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on August 13, 2020. Greek Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS
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Greece to Bolster Military Amid Tensions With Turkey

Greek and French vessels sail in formation during a joint military exercise in Mediterranean sea, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on August 13, 2020. Greek Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS
Greek and French vessels sail in formation during a joint military exercise in Mediterranean sea, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on August 13, 2020. Greek Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS

Greece will support its military with new armament programs, a boost to military personnel and the development of the country’s defense industry, the government spokesman said Monday, as a tense stand-off with neighboring Turkey has led to concerns of open conflict between the two NATO allies.

Ankara is currently facing off against Greece and Cyprus over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Greece and Turkey have deployed naval and air forces to assert their competing claims in the region.

“The Turkish leadership is unleashing, on a near daily basis, threats of war and makes provocative statements against Greece,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

“We respond with political, diplomatic and operational readiness, determined to do whatever is necessary to protect our sovereign rights.”

Petsas said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would be announcing details of plans to upgrade the country’s military, during his annual state of the economy speech on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

“We are in contact with friendly countries in order to reinforce the equipment of our armed forces,” Petsas said. Last week, Greece raised 2.5 billion euros ($2.96 billion) in a bond auction as the country seeks to increase military spending and raise funds for businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Greek media have reported the purchases may include French-made Rafale fighter jets and at least one French frigate. Petsas said Mitsotakis would be meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting in Corsica of European Union Mediterranean countries.

Last Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece to enter talks over disputed eastern Mediterranean territorial claims or face the consequences.

“They’re either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said.

Greece and Turkey have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, including once over exploration rights in the Aegean Sea.

The current dispute escalated when Turkey sent seismic research vessel Oruc Reis, accompanied by warships, to prospect for oil and gas reserves in an area between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete that Athens claims as its own continental shelf.

Greece sent its own warships to the area and put its armed forces on alert.



Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Insists on Face-to-Face Talks with Putin in Istanbul 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Insists on Face-to-Face Talks with Putin in Istanbul 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in Prague, Czech Republic, May 5, 2025. (Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will only attend talks on Ukraine if Russia's Vladimir Putin is also there, the Ukrainian leader's top aide said on Tuesday, challenging the Kremlin to show it is genuine about seeking peace.

US President Donald Trump has offered to attend Thursday's proposed meeting in Istanbul, which has become the focus of his attempts to end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Putin has yet to say if he will take part.

Both Russia and Ukraine have sought to show they are working towards peace after Trump prioritized ending the war, but they have yet to agree any clear path.

Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine after ignoring a Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Trump then publicly told Zelenskiy to accept.

"President Zelenskiy will not meet with any other Russian representative in Istanbul, except Putin," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Zelenskiy's trip to Türkiye showed Kyiv was ready for talks but repeated Ukraine's stance that any negotiations must come after a ceasefire.

"Our position is very principled and very strong," Yermak said during a visit to Copenhagen.

Moscow has not said if Putin will travel to Türkiye.

"We are committed to a serious search for ways of a long-term peaceful settlement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday but would not comment further on the talks.

Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Most of Europe has rallied around Kyiv providing arms and financial aid, while Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea for support.

Trump has demanded the two nations end the war, threatening to walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

TRUMP GOES TO ISTANBUL?

If Zelenskiy and Putin, who make no secret of their mutual contempt, were to meet on Thursday it would be their first face-to-face meeting since December 2019.

Trump, who is in Saudi Arabia, and later due in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this week, unexpectedly offered on Monday to travel to Istanbul, which straddles the divide between Europe and Asia.

"I was thinking about actually flying over there. There's a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we've got to get it done," Trump said before leaving for Riyadh.

"Don't underestimate Thursday in Türkiye," he added.

Following the offer, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the "way forward for a ceasefire" in Ukraine with his Ukrainian, British, French, Polish, German and EU counterparts.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, held talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

FAR APART

Reuters reported last year that Putin was open to discussing a ceasefire with Trump, but that Moscow ruled out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.

Ukraine has said it is ready for talks but a ceasefire is needed first, a position supported by its European allies.

Kyiv wants robust security guarantees as part of any peace deal and rejects a Russian proposal for restrictions on the size of its military. Territorial issues could be discussed once a ceasefire is in place, it says.

Putin has repeatedly referred to a 2022 deal which Russia and Ukraine negotiated shortly after the Russian invasion but never finalized.

Under the draft agreement, a copy of which Reuters has reviewed, Ukraine should agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent UN Security Council members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Ukraine and its European allies have told Russia that it would have to accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday or face new sanctions. The Kremlin replied, saying it would not respond to ultimatums.

France said on Monday European leaders, who met in Ukraine over the weekend, had asked the European Commission to put together new "massive" sanctions targeting Russia's oil and financial sector if Russia failed to agree a ceasefire.

Russia's forces control just under a fifth of Ukraine, including all of Crimea, almost all of Luhansk, and more than 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to Russian estimates. It also controls a sliver of Kharkiv region.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, told the Izvestia media outlet in remarks published on Tuesday that the talks between Moscow and Kyiv can move further than the 2022 negotiations.

"If the Ukrainian delegation shows up at these talks with a mandate to abandon any ultimatums and look for common ground, I am sure that we could move forward," he said.