Lavrov calls out Greece and Cyprus

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called out Greece and Cyprus over decisions which he says “reflect an aggressive line imposed onto Europe that goes against the interest of Greek people.”

A Facebook post by the Russian Embassy in Greece on Monday included a statement by Lavrov, who said Moscow found it “a little odd” how Greece and Cyprus switched camps very quickly against Russia.

“The speed with which they moved, not only to the ‘camp’ of those who signed up for sanctions but also to the group of leaders with anti-Russian actions and rhetoric, was a little odd for us,” the Russian minister was quoted as saying.

Lavrov also said that in the past years Greece and Cyprus had been “some of the friendliest countries” towards Russia, adding that the countries held together many cultural and educational events and economic cooperation was actively developing “for the sake of mutual interests.”

Moscow’s chief diplomat then went on to speculate that the speed could have been due to “aggressive confrontation” coming from the west that went against Greek and Greek Cypriot interests.

“It probably reflects the line of an aggressive confrontation imposed on Europe and not the interest of the Greek people,” Lavrov said.

Last week Lavrov suggested European leaders were “hasty” in their support for Kiev including traditional friends Greece and Cyprus who followed American advice.

Cypriot outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades responded by saying “Russia forced us to go along with the collective decisions of the European Union.”

Anastasiades, who has been scrutinized over links between his former law firm and wealthy overseas Russians, went on to say Nicosia had no choice when it came to violations of international law.

“It cannot be that [Russia] could expect us to be the stigma of Europe, in other words the dissenters,” Anastasiades said.