As the Western world turns on Russia, refusing to buy its products and attempting to punish any nation which does with sanctions, one nation stands out as it ignores all of the upheaval, and continues to trade with the former soviet nation.

When asked by news outlet RIA Novosti on Thursday if Greece is reducing its energy purchases from Russia, the Russian ambassador to Greece, Andrey Maslov, said, that the Kremlin has not been given any indication from Athens it might pull out of any contracts for gas supplies. He added that in fact, the EU nation had begun buying Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) just last year.

Maslov went on to note that according to data from the nation’s statistical service, in 2022, Greek imports were dominated by imports from Russia of liquified natural gas, oil, and petroleum products.

The ambassador said, “Publicly, the Greek leadership speaks in favor of a complete abandonment of Russian gas, but it’s hard to say when Greece will have such an opportunity.”

He also stressed that although there were valid long-term contracts between three Greek operators and Gazprom Export, the export unit of Russian energy giant Gazprom, all of the parties were in full compliance with their legal obligations.

Maslov added, “We haven’t received any signals that local structures are going to terminate these agreements before the scheduled date. On the contrary, last year in addition to pipeline gas supplied under existing contracts, Athens imported Russian LNG.”

When RIA Novosti inquired about a statement made by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, stating his nation could supply Ukraine with gas instead of Russia, the ambassador said, “Greece does not produce its own natural gas,” and that the development of its deposits is “in its embryonic stage.”

However, Maslov speculated that the Prime Minister may have been implying that Greece could become an energy hub, transiting gas to the Eastern European countries and the Balkans, and among them, Ukraine.