Ukraine’s Zelensky visits Athens to attend meeting of Balkan leaders with top EU officials

• In the evening, Zelensky was to join in an informal dinner organized by Mitsotakis for top officials from nine Balkan nations

ATHENS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Greece on Monday for talks with the country’s leadership and to attend an informal meeting of Balkan leaders with top European Union officials.
Zelensky met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and also was scheduled to meet the country’s figurehead president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

In the evening, Mitsotakis’ office said, Zelensky was to join in an informal dinner organized by Mitsotakis for top officials from nine Balkan nations as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel.
The dinner was scheduled to discuss the Western Balkans region’s future in the EU, which many countries have already joined and the rest are jockeying to enter.
Greece has joined its NATO and EU partners in strongly backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion, and has provided material military assistance in the form of armored personnel carriers and ammunition.

But Athens has resisted pressure to provide Kyiv with a Russian-made air defense missile system stationed on the southern island of Crete.
Earlier Monday, Zelensky was in Denmark, where he thanked lawmakers for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion. On Sunday, Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would provide Kyiv with F-16 warplanes that could be delivered around the end of the year.