Greece will not take part in anti-Russia sanctions: Minister

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos says his country has no intention to take part in sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

Greece was losing a lot of money as a result of EU’s sanctions against Russia and Athens therefore needed compensation from the block, Kammenos said in an interview with German newspaper Bild on Saturday.

"Otherwise we can't and don't want to take part in sanctions against Russia, which are only damaging our economy," he said.

Russia has been hit with a series of sanctions by the EU and the US, which accuse Moscow of supporting pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia categorically denies the allegation.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russia protests there in April 2014.

The Greek minister further said his country's possible exit from the eurozone would have a "domino effect" on other European states.

If Greece were to leave the 19-member eurozone, Spain, Italy and even Germany would also end up quitting the common currency bloc, Kammenos said.

"If Greece explodes, Spain and Italy will be next and then at some point, Germany. We therefore need to find a way within the eurozone, but this way cannot be that the Greeks keep on having to pay," the top official added.

He emphasized that rather than a third bailout, Athens needed "a haircut like the one Germany also got in 1953 at the London debt conference."

Greek’s eurozone exit disaster

The European Union’s Financial Affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici (pictured below) said Athens possible exit from the eurozone would be a "disaster" both for Greece and the bloc as a whole.

"Anyway we are probably all agreed in Europe that a 'Grexit' would be a disaster for the Greek economy, but also for the whole eurozone," Moscovici told Der Spiegel news weekly.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed on February 24 to give Greece a four-month extension of its international bailout to avert the possibility of the country’s exit from the currency area.

But Athens will not get any of the cash until eurozone partners approve a list of reform measures proposed by Greece.

The administration of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has tried to revise the terms of the country’s €240-billion (USD 270 billion) bailout it received from the troika of international lenders - the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union - following the 2009 economic crisis.

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