“If yesterday people simply did not know what it means to be in the crosshairs in those areas of Romania, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security”, Putin said.
Advertisement
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Moscow had no choice but to retaliate over the US missile shield in Europe, and warned that both Romania and Poland could find themselves in Russia’s sights.
Putin’s visit came as relations between Russian Federation and the European Union remain troubled since the Ukraine conflict that broke out in 2014 as well as Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula in the same year.
Greece has repeatedly sought the help of Russian Federation, a fellow Orthodox country, as it descended into economic crisis over the past six years.
Putin issued his threat during a news conference Friday after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Aleksis Tsipras in Athens. “We also want to resume relations”, he said.
Both countries are Orthodox, and religious symbolism is also high on the agenda of the two-day trip, the Russian leader’s first to Greece in almost a decade. “Russian Federation will never negotiate on this issue”, Putin said. “To do this, we have to fight and defeat terrorists, and to do this, we all have to fight this threat together”, Putin concluded.
Outside parliament, a small group of demonstrators from a Greek gay and lesbian rights association gathered in protest against Putin’s visit, chanting “Greece, Russia, Homophobia”. “We will not take any action… until we see rockets in areas that border us”.
“I would like to once again emphasize that strengthening our connections with Russian Federation is our strategic choice”, Tsipras told Putin, according to a Kremlin transcript.
Putin traveled to Greece with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and top executives from state oil and gas companies.
Putin, in turn, said this goodwill must translate “into economic growth and cooperation – not only in the energy sector, but also high-technology industries and infrastructure”.
Putin reiterated Russian interest in buyinge Greek railway company Trainose and a stake in Thessaloniki port – the country’s second largest – while Tsipras said Greece could serve as a bridge of understanding between Moscow and Brussels, within the context of the leftist government’s expressed intention to forge stronger relationships with countries outside the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The Russian President joined celebrations marking the 1,000 th anniversary of the Russian presence at the secluded Christian Orthodox monastic sanctuary.
The Russian leader lit a candle and kissed the Axion Esti, a revered icon of the Virgin Mary, ERT footage showed.
Advertisement
Located on a peninsula in the Aegean Sea, Putin is scheduled to visit the Saint Panteleimon Monastery there and meet with the mostly Russian monks who have resided there for a full millennium now.
