US President Donald Trump received an investment-seeking Alexis Tsipras at the White House on Tuesday, although the most noteworthy news to emerge from the meeting is a reported deal to upgrade a portion of Greece’s fleet of F-16s, worth up to 2.4 billion USD.
On his part, the visiting Greek Prime Minister, during a subsequent press conference in the Rose Garden, referred to the east Mediterranean country as a “reliable ally” to the US, to which Trump responded by saying that “great stability" in Greece is important to Washington and that two countries will be friends "for many, many years... We have great confidence in Greece as a nation. We have great confidence in what they’re doing relative to their military.”
In terms of the long-rumored upgrade (configuration V) for Greece’s F-16s, international press reports on Tuesday pointed a decision, the previous day, by the State Department to extend its conditional approval for the possible military sale.
Media reports quoted a relevant US agency as saying it had delivered “the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Oct. 16 (Tuesday).”
After the press briefing, Tsipras’ Twitter account lit up.
"Greece is vigorously emerging from the crisis, with significant growth rates. In this way, we look forward to US support … Greece can develop its role as a pillar of stability if freed from fundamental security concerns (a dig at neighboring Turkey’s aggressiveness) … We look forward to a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem within the context of UN Security Council resolutions."
Earlier, the outspoken US president noted that Washington is helping Greece get back on its feet after the economic crisis. "We have a great confidence in Greece … it has made alot of difficult decisions."
