Russian ambassador to Greece acknowledges that bilateral relations have been “destroyed” since the start of the war

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The Russian ambassador to Greece, Andrei Maslov, has acknowledged on Tuesday that bilateral relations between Athens and Moscow have been “destroyed” since the end of February, the date on which Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine on the orders of its president, Vladimir Putin.

“Since the end of February, our bilateral relations have been completely destroyed, they no longer exist, there is no cooperation, no contacts,” Maslov said in statements to Russia24 TV channel.

Thus, the ambassador has lamented that “the whole rich range” of contacts that Russia and Greece had maintained for decades have now been broken in “literally a matter of days” because of the affinity that Athens has shown with the positions of the Atlantic Alliance.

However, Maslov has assumed that, being a member of NATO and the European Union, it is partly normal for Greece to go along with the positions of these groups regarding Russia and, especially, what concerns the war in Ukraine.

On the other hand, the ambassador has regretted the information that the Greek media pours on the war in Ukraine, although he has welcomed that in recent months “more sensible” information can be consulted.

“This is completely different from what it was in March and April. Yes, of course, publications continue, publications printed in Greece are still anti-Russian in nature, but the important thing is that lately, perhaps in the last month and a half, more and more sensible materials are appearing,” he has said.

Russia last week included Greece, along with other European nations, on its list of hostile countries, thus restricting its ability to establish embassies, consulates and government agencies on Russian territory.