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Russian aircraft with humanitarian aid to Syria will not use Greek airspace: sources

Xinhua, September 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russian aircraft have been denied the use of Greek airspace for flights to carry humanitarian aid to Syria, following U.S. intervention asking Athens to reject permission, according to Greek government sources and media reports.

Greek state officials have refused to comment on the alleged requests.

However, foreign affairs ministry sources, while speaking to Xinhua and other local media outlets on Tuesday, said that Moscow had sought such permission and the U.S. government subsequently asked Athens to reconsider and deny the Russian request to run flights up to Sept. 24.

As Greece was examining the U.S. request, leaning towards a negative response, Moscow changed plans and opted for a different path, according to media reports in Vima and Proto Thema.

According to reports that cited government sources, the United States expressed concern that the Russian planes might carry military material to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A alternate route for Russian aircraft will be used instead.

The Russian-U.S. tug of war came as Greece formally requested financial and humanitarian aid this week from the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism to deal with the unprecedented refugee influx which has put enormous pressure in particular on the Greek eastern Aegean Sea islands, according to the interior ministry.

According to the latest official estimates by Greek authorities and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 230,000 undocumented refugees and migrants have reached Greece's shores since the start of this year seeking to continue their journey to a better future in northern Europe. The overwhelming majority are Syrians fleeing the war.

Throughout the summer and on into early September, between 1,000 to 1,500 people reached Greece's shores per day. The debt-laden country is not able to provide basic aid.

In a telephone conversation with European Council President Donald Tusk, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos asked that an extraordinary EU summit on the issue take place soon.

During a meeting with Greek Economy Minister Nikos Christodoulakis on Tuesday, Pavlopoulos said he also invited Tusk to visit Athens to discuss the issue. Endit