Greece’s concern for its own security has made it a supporter of Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion. The country’s early support for Ukraine caused the Russian embassy in Athens to call on “very senior politicians” to “come to their senses” and “stop anti-Russian propaganda”.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zacharova called Greece’s decision to send weapons to Ukraine “deeply mistaken” and “criminal”, warning that “in the end, the weapons will be turned on civilians, including the Greeks,” a reference to 150,000 ethnic Greek Ukrainians who then lived mainly in the besieged towns of Mariupol and Odesa.

According to Dianeosis, an Athens-based think tank, about 70 percent of Greeks had a favourable view of Russia before the full-blown war in Ukraine. That fell to 50 percent after the 2022 invasion and to 30 percent last year.