Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Greece

On April 6, 12 diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Athens and the Consulate-General in Thessaloniki were declared “personae nоn gratae.”

This is a truly unprecedented move in Russian-Greek relations. It only confirms how zealous the Greek authorities are in following the course of dismantling our bilateral versatile and mutually beneficial cooperation. It is sad that centuries-long historical, cultural and economic ties are sacrificed in no time in the name of “trans-Atlantic solidarity.”

There is no doubt that those who made this baseless decision to expel our staff from the country wanted to sow discord between the Russian and Greek people. Even though everything is being done now to discredit Russia, do the biggest possible damage to our bilateral ties and deplete our diplomatic missions, we are convinced that these schemes are doomed to fail in the long run.

Athens is wholly responsible for this hostile move.

We will respond appropriately.