‘We used to be friends with Greece,’ says Russian FM

Russia "used to be friends with Greece" until Athens submitted to "American demands," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"We noted the transformation of its leadership. It was forced or it agreed to submit to American demands. We drew our conclusions about those who so happily supported aggression against Russia," the Russian Embassy in Athens tweeted Lavrov as saying on Monday.

"The speed with which they switched not only to the 'camp' of those who signed the sanctions, but to the group leading anti-Russia actions was odd. It reflects the imposed line of aggressive opposition and not the interest of the Greeks," the Russian foreign minister was quoted as saying.