Greek-Russian Summit

The summit spawned no major announcements, and the two insisted Greece hadn΄t asked Russia for financial assistance. Still, the meeting marked a joint show of defiance against Brussels, which both leaders criticized for constraining Greece.

"The Greek side did not reach out to us with requests for help," said Mr. Putin. "For me it΄s strange to hear that anybody would express doubts in this regard... Is it the case that debt-ridden Greece is now tied hand and foot, that its sovereignty is already so limited that it cannot have its own foreign policy? I don΄t believe that, and the actions of the Greek premiere show the opposite."

The Greek PM, whose government has engaged in tense negotiations with European and IMF creditors after elections in January, echoed Mr. Putin΄s rhetoric.

Greece will abide by its international obligations, he said, but "these obligations cannot allow some countries to have agreements with third countries, and others not to." The Greek prime minister has called Western sanctions against Russia "a road to nowhere."

Greece was unlikely to receive direct financial assistance from Moscow, as Moscow is facing its own economic downturn, mainly due to the drop in oil prices. But many people had wondered whether Moscow would find other ways to bolster the ailing Greek economy by implementing a price discount on Russian natural gas to Athens, or by exempting Greek producers from an August ban on agricultural imports from the EU.

During a news conference after Wednesday΄s meeting, Mr. Putin made it clear that neither of those outcomes was likely in the near future, saying the best way to solve Greece΄s economic woes "would be to stop this sanctions war."

Mr. Putin hinted that legally it would be difficult to make an exception for Greece to the EU produce ban, saying Russia "couldn΄t have acted otherwise or have made an exception for one country in the EU." He expressed hope for an "expansion of joint ventures" to help Greek industries affected by the ban. He didn΄t give details of the ventures or how they would work.

Neither leader mentioned a discount on gas prices, though they discussed the possibility of Greece participating in a pipeline project that would bring Russian gas directly across the Turkish border into Greece.