Russian mockery: The relationship with Greece is not affected by the relationship with Turkey

He made it clear that Russia is working to further improve bilateral relations, regardless of which government exists in Athens. He added: "We see that contacts are intensifying and I understand that in two years we will celebrate together the 200 years of the Greek Revolution, which is known to have been sprung from the Russian Empire."

As regards the areas of development of bilateral relations, he attached particular importance to the development of economic, political, interparliamentary, cultural, and religious relations. Called to comment on Foreign Minister Nikos Dendia's impending meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, the diplomat assured that the "tete-a-tete" would be of great importance, as "it has been a while since the previous visit".

"I think it will be the reason for the further development of bilateral relations," he added. At the same time, when asked if close Russian-Turkish relations affect Greek-Russian relations, Tsizov responded in the negative, saying that "we are not now and have never made friends with some at the expense of others."

"Illegal energy drilling in the Cyprus EEZ"

The Russian ambassador, in another part of his interview, made specific reference to Turkish activities within the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). "Of course we consider the drilling done by Turkey on the Cyprus shelf to be illegal," he said. Of course, it does not fall under international law. Turkey is one of four countries that have not signed the Sea Law Treaty. Under international law, it is certainly a violation, he said.

He advocated dialogue and political efforts to reduce tensions by first rejecting the choice of sanctions. "If you were to ask me what we think of any sanctions, sanctions are not something that helps solve such problems. There has to be dialogue, there has to be a starting point, "he said.

In the same context, he also referred to the Cyprus issue, reiterating Moscow's "fixed position": "The first time the word "federation" appeared was in 1965, in an interview by Andrei Gromyko and was not liked by our Greek Cypriot friends back then, but years have passed and today I think it is the only way to solve the problem. "