Greece has long called for the return of the Elgin Marbles (Image: GETTY)
Rishi Sunak dramatically cancelled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister in a row over the Elgin Marbles.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis had been expected to meet the Prime Minister today as part of his visit to London.
But Mr Sunak scrapped the talks after the Greek leader used an interview to call for the return of the historic works, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures.
A source on the Greek side said Mr Mitsotakis had been left "baffled, surprised and not a little bit annoyed" at the cancellation.
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Downing Street said it felt the Greek PM had rowed back on "reassurances" not to use the trip to publicly lobby for the return of the treasures.
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The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The UK and Greece relationship is hugely important, from our work together in Nato, to tackling shared challenges like illegal migration and joint efforts to resolve the crisis in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
"When requesting a meeting with the Prime Minister this week, the Greek government provided reassurances that they would not use the visit as a public platform to relitigate long settled matters relating to the ownership of the Parthenon Sculptures, which would only serve to distract from those important issues outlined.
"Given those assurances were not adhered to, the Prime Minister felt it would not be productive to hold a meeting dominated by that issue, rather than the important challenges facing Greek and British people.
"The Deputy Prime Minister was available to meet the Greek prime minister to discuss the wider topics and we are disappointed the prime minister opted not to take this meeting."
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It comes after the Greek Prime Minister on Sunday compared the situation with the Elgin Marbles to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.
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He told the BBC: "It is as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum."
Labour criticised Mr Sunak's decision to cancel his meeting with his Greek counterpart.
Athens has long demanded the return of the historic works, which were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
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