Russia scolds Greece for supporting Ukraine peace process
With EU-Russian relations at perhaps their lowest point, Russia has chastised Greece for supporting a process for the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine to which Russia itself has officially subscribed.
Responding to a Friday meeting between Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and the Ukrainian ambassador to Athens, Sergii Shutenko, in which Varvitsiotis referred to Greek support of the so-called Minsk process, the Russian Embassy in Athens tweeted late Saturday that “it is obvious that the obligatory ‘euro-solidarity’ hurts Greece’s real interests.” The tweet, written in Greek, links to the Greek foreign ministry’s announcement of the Friday meeting, which follows:
“Greece supports the Minsk process for the resolution of the Ukraine issue, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis noted during his meeting (Friday) with Ukrainian Ambassador Sergii Shutenko, adding that international problems must be resolved through dialogue and in accordance with the rules of International Law.”
“Having pointed to the longstanding ties of friendship between the Greek and Ukrainian peoples, Mr Varvitsiotis stressed to the Ukrainian Ambassador that the enhancement of the European Union’s relations with the countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood is a subject of discussion in the context of the European Council meetings. Finally, he pointed out that our country has paid a significant economic price, in terms of Greek exports, as a result of the European sanctions on Russia.”
Given that the statement of support for the Minsk process is, or was supposed to be, a fairly anodyne one, it is not clear whether Russia, which has subscribed to it, at least officially, since 2014, when it was elaborated, intends to abandon it or whether the Embassy’s tweet was a not-so-subtle hint to Greece to mind its business.
