Russian Ambassador To Greece Says Diplomatic Relations To Be Preserved

The expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats from Greece is intended to destroy bilateral channels of communication, but this does not mean the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Athens Andrey Maslov said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2022) The expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats from Greece is intended to destroy bilateral channels of communication, but this does not mean the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Athens Andrey Maslov said on Wednesday.

"I think that this will not happen, diplomatic relations of course will not be severed," Maslov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

At the same time, the ambassador stressed that the Russian side has lodged a strong protest against the actions of the Greek authorities.

"We emphasized that these actions will not remain without consequences," Maslov added.

He also noted that eight of the 12 employees expelled from the Russian embassy were top level, senior diplomats.

"They were our core. And therefore, we cannot but consider the Greek action as malicious, aimed not only at breaking down bilateral relations, but even at destroying diplomatic channels of communication," the ambassador said.

In addition, Maslov noted that there is currently no threat of freezing the accounts of the Russian embassy in Greece.

"We have some common understanding with the Greek authorities, with banks on this issue. We have not faced any problem here yet," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Greek Foreign Ministry declared 12 employees of Russian diplomatic and consular missions accredited in Greece as personae non gratae, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.

Earlier this week, the European Union and individual countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, decided to expel Russian diplomats amid recent reports of alleged atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, which Moscow called a staged provocation.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine and that only military infrastructure is being targeted. In response, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Russia.