Greek Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos holds strong under immense US pressure to turn against Russia

While on his trip to Washington, Greece’s Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos, was openly snubbed by his counterpart, the US Defense Secretary, who refused to meet with Kammenos. Instead what the Greek official got was a visit from Deputy US Defense Secretary Christine Wormuth, who came with a clear message to Athens…support the continuation of sanctions against Russia or else.

For his part, and to his credit, Kammenos not only stood firm on Greece’s position with regards to sanctions against Russia, but Kammenos also explained a couple of things to Wormuth regarding the ties that bind the two people beyond geo-political interests.

Kammenos exposed how inept and out of depth US foreign policy has become.

To begin with, Kammenos noted that Russia is a strategic ally and the sanction war undertaken by Washington is causing the Greek economy an estimated loss of €4 billion a year.

Kammenos was not finished…

“I was asked to support the prolongation of the sanctions, particularly in connection with Crimea. I explained the Ukrainian issue was very sensitive for Greece as some 300,000 Greeks live in Mariupol and its neighborhood, and they feel safe next to the Orthodox Church.”

‘Russia is Greece’s ally and a friendly country, our countries have “unbreakable ties” of common religion, and we have economic ties as well’

“Annually about 1.5 million Russian tourists visit Greece. We export agricultural products to Russia. I explained that the European Union does not reimburse losses to Greek farmers on these issues.”