Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and lent his support in their hopes for overcoming future financial difficulties. UPI/Luo Xiaoguang/Pool | License Photo

ATHENS, Greece, July 6 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin called Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and lent his support in their hopes for overcoming future financial difficulties.

A Greek government official said Putin initiated the phone call. This comes just one day after 61 percent of Greek voters voted 'no' on a referendum on a lenders-proposed bailout, which dealt with spending cuts and tax increases in exchange for further financial assistance to the Mediterranean country, Sputnik News reported. The overwhelming rejection of this financial bailout comes as talks between Greece and the financial creditors had collapsed in recent weeks. The vote was seen as a harsh rebuke to the shared values and tenets of the European Union.


Prime Minister Tsipras said the voters made a "very brave choice" in a televised address on Sunday night. After voters overwhelmingly rejected tough austerity terms set by international creditors, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned, ITV News reported. Several rounds of talks between Athens and major international creditors, including the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Eurogroup collapsed in recent weeks.

The Kremlin released a statement on Monday: "[The sides] discussed the outcome of the referendum that took place in Greece on the conditions of international creditors providing Athens with financial aid, as well as several issues of further development of Greek-Russian cooperation." Putin personally "expressed support for the Greek people in overcoming the difficulties facing the country," the statement also read.

On June 19, President Putin and Prime Minister Tsipras met on the sidelines at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to discuss possible routes of transporting Russia natural gas to Europe via the Turkish Stream pipeline. The Greek and Russian energy ministers also signed a memorandum to set up a joint company for the construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline across Greek territory. This would supply 47 billion cubic meters of gas a year, Russian news agencies also reported.

At the time, Putin said: "If the EU wants Greece to pay its debt then it should be interested in the Greek economy growing. The EU should be applauding us. What's bad about creating new jobs in Greece?"