A high-profile report disseminated by the Moscow-based Sputnik new service has Greek DM Panos Kammenos saying that US officials tried to persuade him to support a new round of anti-Russia sanctions.

Nevertheless, in televised statements to Greek television Kammenos said he merely explained the reason for the close relations between Greece and Russia when asked by his US interlocutors. Kammenos referred to a common religion and economic losses for Greece, saying sanctions cost the recession-plagued country a whopping four billion euros every year.

The outspoken Greek DM said the Russian-made S-300 missile system protects the Souda Bay anchorage on Crete, which is also used by the US military.

In terms the Ukraine and Crimea, he said he explained that the issue is sensitive for Greece, given that 300,000 ethnic Greeks live in the Mariupol region, near the ongoing warfare. He also said this population feels closer to the Orthodox Church.

Sputnik’s dispatch was more ominous, leading with Washington’s pressure on Kammenos and Greece to acquiesce to a “new round of anti-Russia sanctions…”

The news site has Kammenos saying that “Athens viewed Russia as an ally.”

The Greek DM is on a busy trip to the US, where he met on Wednesday with Christine Wormuth, the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USDP).

Earlier this year, Kammenos repeatedly said that Greece had strong ties with Russia, especially in the area of defense contacts.