The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has resorted to threats to Greece after its authorities had expressed their readiness to hand over S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine if American Patriot systems are placed on Crete.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation published this threat on their official website on Monday on behalf of the spokeswoman of the Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

Zakharova stated that plans to hand over to Kyiv S-300 and other air defence equipment are provocative and "openly hostile" to Russia. Her statement adheres to the traditional propaganda line of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which contains baseless accusations against Kyiv.

"Official Athens does not care that by handing over weapons into the war zone, they become direct accomplices of Ukrainian neo-Nazis who are waging a criminal war against the peaceful civilian population of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts, in particular the numerous ethnic Greeks who live there," Zakharova said.

According to the spokeswoman, the potential transfer of S300 systems to Ukraine will be a "gross violation" of Russian-Greek intergovernmental agreements on military-technical cooperation and "will inevitably have consequences."

"It is not too late to abandon dangerous plans. We once again warn the Greek leadership about their responsibility," Zakharova said.

Last week, Greek Defence Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos admitted that the Greek government was ready to send S-300 air defence systems from Crete to Ukraine if the US "installs Patriot systems in their place".

Back in September, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the country would not provide Ukraine with S-300 surface-to-air missiles because such support for the war-torn country "should not come at the expence of weakening Greece's defence system."

In April, Slovakia handed over S-300 to Ukraine, replacing them with the US Patriot.