ATHENS, July 20. /TASS/. Athens would welcome a possible visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, despite earlier announcement that it is unlikely to take place in September, as scheduled, the AMNA news agency quoted Greek diplomatic sources as saying.
"The Russian foreign minister’s visit to Athens is welcomed. A request for Mr. Lavrov’s visit to our country has been filed by the Russian side," the sources said, commenting on Greece’s reaction to Russia’s decision to adjourn the visit.
According to the agency, the sources pointed out that "the Russian ambassador was speaking not about the cancellation of the visit, but about an untimely moment for it."
Russian Ambassador to Athens Andrei Maslov told TASS on Thursday that under the current circumstances, it is pointless for Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to visit Greece according to the earlier schedule.
"I think that under the current situation it is not relevant, at least as far as the earlier schedule is concerned, as the visit was set to take place in September," he said. "It is too early to speak about it until the situation is resolved."
According to him, Lavrov received an invitation to visit Greece but "has not yet accepted it so it is hard to predict further developments."
On July 11, the Greek Kathimerini daily reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Athens had decided to expel two Russian diplomats and ban another two from entering the country. According to the daily, Greek authorities accused the diplomats of meddling in the country’s domestic affairs and undermining Greece’s national security. The newspaper said that the diplomats were specifically accused of "attempting to obtain and disseminate information, as well as bribe state officials." Greek Government Spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos later confirmed the information about the expulsion of diplomats. In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would take tit-for-tat measures in response to this step.