Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website that “an unprecedented campaign to discredit Russia” is underway in Greece. The Greek leadership is sacrificing the common historical heritage for the sake of vague and dubious goals, she adds.

“Top officials of Athens allow themselves offensive accusations against our country and its leadership, they are literally competing in it with their like-minded people. They are hypocritically talking about an ‘unprovoked attack’ on Ukraine, the first ‘mass invasion’ since World War II,” Zakharova said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website. 

“We will recall that with the efforts of primarily the US and its satellites during the last decades, the world is shocked by wars and conflicts, such as the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the operations in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan. Nobody spoke about the huge number of victims and the suffering of the people of these countries,” she said.

Today, “the crimes of the Kiev regime, which came to power as a result of the bloody coup of 2014, are overshadowed by the new wave of anti-Russian criticism. The fact that for their free reunification with Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol paid with a general blockade and Western sanctions is silenced. In the besieged Donbas, as a result of the neo-Nazi Ukrainian retaliatory operations in the last eight years, more than 14 thousand civilians were killed and the Russians were generally offered to leave the territory of Ukraine. The meaning of the daily shootings may be explained, among others, by the Greeks who live in the territory of the (so-called self-proclaimed) People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.”

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“The EU has tacitly preferred to observe the extermination of the civilian population of Donbas and has become an accomplice to the long-standing genocide of the inhabitants of Southeastern Ukraine. Now Europe, including Greece, has finally been enlisted as an advocate for the Kiev regime and the Russophobic hysteria cultivated by its governments has reached a boiling point. On this basis, deeply wrong, criminal decisions are adopted, including the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, which will eventually be directed against the peaceful inhabitants, including the Greeks, whom the Ukrainian nationalist battalions use as human shields and have already been victims of inhuman tactics,” claims Mrs. Zakharova in her comment.

“In the name of collective Western plans to hurt Russia by any means, common sense is being sacrificed. Bilateral ties are being deliberately destroyed and Greek-Russian relations, unfortunately, are no exception. Athens actively supports the EU sanctions regime. They accuse us of ‘energy blackmail’, they declare as a goal the rapid elimination of Russian gas, the uninterrupted flow of which has for decades been a factor of stability of the local energy sector. For the Russian airlines, according to the collective decision of Brussels, the Greek airspace was closed. An order was given to stop the cooperation with us in the field of culture, to cancel the ‘common tribute’ years. There are calls for a complete cessation of any cooperation.”

“Essentially, for the sake of vague and dubious goals, the Greek leadership is ready to nullify that very common historical heritage, which only yesterday it called its natural advantage in cooperating with Russia,” the Russian Foreign Minister claims and concludes: “Time will put everything in its place, it will show who was right and who – at the critical moment – showed a lack of insight, made the wrong choice. We believe that the eternal ties that unite the peoples of Greece and Russia will withstand this ordeal.”

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ response

Answering a journalist’s question regarding the recent statements of the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Alexandros Papaioannou, pointed out the following:

Greek foreign policy is a policy of principles and has always been based on full respect for international law. Greece jointly decides and is bound by the decisions made in the International Organizations in which it participates, such as, among others, the European Union and NATO.

The main concern of our country is the projection of the truth, based on confirmed and indisputable facts. It condemns any attempt, wherever it comes from, to spread fake news and misinformation, aimed at disorienting public opinion.

The recent statements of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman as well as the posts of the Russian embassy in Athens are unfortunately unacceptable. They are not in line with the diplomatic practice or with the historical ties that unite the peoples of Greece and Russia. Greece would like to maintain the historical relations and hopes the stance of Russia will move in this direction.”

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