Greek Ambassador to Moscow summoned to Russian foreign ministry

Greece’s Ambassador to Moscow, Andreas Fryganas, was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry today, following a war of words between the two countries’ foreign ministries, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s decision to cancel a visit to Athens that was planned for September.

The two countries’ readout on the meeting were diametrically opposed, as was yesterday’s disagreement on how Lavrov’s planned trip to Athens had been arranged. The Greek side said that Lavrov had requested to visit Athens, while the Russian foreign ministry said that an invitation had been issued by Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias.

Russian readout

According to a statement by the Russian foreign ministry, Moscow delivered a “decisive demarche” to the Greek ambassador regarding “continuing anti-Russian statements”.

Moscow reportedly was particularly irked by yesterday’s exceptionally harsh response of the Greek foreign ministry to the remarks of Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Sakharova, who suggested that Greece was pressured by a third country to expel the two Russian diplomats, and to bar two others from entering the country.

The Greek side, however, according to unnamed sources cited by the state-run Athens News Agency (ANA), described the Greek ambassador’s contact with the Russian foreign ministry as a “friendly conversation”, in an obvious bid to signal efforts at a de-escalation and a normalisation of relations.

According to the Greek news agency, no specific counter-measures in response to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats were announced to the Greek envoy.