Greece and Ukraine sign a US gas supply deal as Zelenskyy visits Athens

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – An agreement to supply Ukraine with US liquefied natural gas (LNG) was signed in Athens Sunday during the official visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Greece.

Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended the signing of the deal between Greece’s gas supplier DEPA and Ukraine’s Naftogas, as did the United States Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The gas will be supplied via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis to the Ukrainian port of Odesa. Zelenskyy said that the supply of U.S. LNG will begin in January.

Until then, Greece will supply Ukraine with natural gas to cover its needs for the coming winter and to make up for damage to its energy infrastructure from Russian attacks.

Mitsotakis stressed the importance of an Athens energy meeting on Nov. 6-7 in making the LNG deal possible.

In that meeting, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined over 80 American officials, EU energy ministers and top LNG executives for talks in Greece hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.

“The United States alone could displace all the Russian gas in Europe with what we’re building,” said Burgum at the time, signaling strong U.S. intent to fill the void left by Russian supply cuts.

The push comes as President Donald Trump continues to leverage the U.S. position as the world’s top LNG exporter, tying energy supply to trade relations with Europe and efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Earlier Sunday, Zelenskyy and Mitsotakis held talks that also covered Greece’s involvement in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, mostly in construction, health care, digitalization and monument protection. In addition, Zelenskyy made a pitch for Greece to acquire Ukrainian weaponry.

“I talked about our capabilities in producing defensive weapons,” Zelenskyy told reporters after the meeting.

Zelenskyy also thanked Greece for its support of Ukraine’s quest to join the European Union and its backing of sanctions against Russia.

“For Greece, border inviolability is non-negotiable. We continue to support, to the best of our ability, the Ukrainian people’s heroic resistance,” Mitsotakis said, also expressing his “revulsion at the intensification of Russian attacks (that include) non-military infrastructure and (result in) civilian casualties.”

Zelenskyy, who arrived in Athens early Sunday afternoon, will next visit France, on Monday, and Spain, on Tuesday. It is his second visit to Greece; the first was in August 2023.