MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Moscow has given the Greek Embassy its assessment of the current state of affairs in relations between the two countries, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a response to a question related to Greece’s Independence Day.
The diplomat stressed that "in the wake of aggressive Russophobia, Athens persists in criminal decisions, in particular, on sending weapons to Ukraine, which the Kiev regime uses to exterminate the civilian population, including ethnic Greeks living in the Azov Region." "It got to the point that the Greek Embassy in Moscow, among other diplomatic missions of EU countries, ignored the norms of diplomatic communication and ignored an invitation to talk with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry," Zakharova stated.
"On March 25, our thoughts and assessments [on the state of relations between the two countries] were conveyed directly to the Greek embassy. It is unfortunate that instead of the once so befitting friendly congratulations on the national holiday, we have to remind Athens about basic history on this day," the diplomat.
Zakharova drew attention to the fact that since the days that Greece was founded, its leaders had faithfully served the Russian side.
"To be fair, it should be noted that no one in Athens has questioned these facts for a long time," she continued. "They paid tribute to the decisive role of Russian weapons and diplomacy in the victory of the Greek Revolution of 1821, honored the memory of our Philhellines, and carefully preserved the pages of the glorious joint past of the two countries." However, today, according to the diplomat, "the situation has undergone bizarre metamorphoses, all the more inexplicable because their shaky basis is a very dubious political conjuncture."
"The absence of Russian representatives at the traditional celebrations on the occasion of the country's Independence Day on the instructions of the leadership of the Greek Foreign Ministry is only an element of a frenzied hostile campaign, which, with reference to the current international situation, was launched by the cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis (acting Prime Minister of Greece - TASS), - said the official representative of the Russian diplomatic department. "The goal is to erase from the collective memory everything connected with Russia, sacrificing for the sake of momentary circumstances the centuries-old historical, cultural and spiritual ties of the Russian and Greek peoples."