Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday his government wasn't surprised by reports of alleged US monitoring of leaders of allied countries.
"In general, I am sure that everyone knew everything or at least suspected something. There is so much noise now because things, which weren't supposed to be openly discussed, suddenly became public," Lavrov said during a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
The Russian foreign minister is in Greece for talks with the country's political leadership on potential investments in the country.
"I will tell you honestly: I treat this philosophically, even though I see the shrewdness of the phrase: 'We haven't done anything that hasn't been done by others'," he added.
A top US intelligence official said on Tuesday that Washington has commonly spied on leaders of its foreign allies for decades - in the same way that they are spying on American officials.
National Intelligence Director James Clapper told Congress on Tuesday it's "kind of a basic tenet" of US intelligence-gathering to find out the intentions of foreign leaders.
Speaking about Syria, Lavrov said there are still objections over an upcoming conference in Geneva, which hopes to find a negotiated end to the conflict.
"The situation is a bit more difficult because open objections against this conference (Geneva II), initialized by Russia and the US, have already appeared," Lavrov said.
"Moreover, the objections are not only from the various Syrian sides, but also from certain capitals of neighboring, as well as other, states. Also it is almost not hidden that this negative position on the Russia-US initiative is based on the refusal of Washington to strike Syria."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Greece's prime minister on Wednesday at the start of an official visit expected to focus on energy and Athens' ambitious but slow-moving privatization program.
Lavrov also was to meet with President Karolos Papoulias and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos as Greece prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January.
Greece has backed an energy project, known as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which will transport natural gas from Azerbaijan over its territory and neighboring Albania to Italy, in competition with current Russian-dominated networks.
Crisis-hit Greece, in its sixth year of recession, also is struggling to raise support from international investors to buy former state-run companies and utilities. Russian companies have reportedly expressed interest in Greek plans to privatize its railways.
AP