Greece broke assurances not to publicly raise issue of Parthenon Sculptures - UK PM's spokesman

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis because Mitsotakis broke assurances not to publicly raise the dispute about the ownership of the Parthenon Sculptures, Sunak's spokesman said. Mitsotakis over the weekend compared the separation of the sculptures to cutting the Mona Lisa in half and complained about the slow progress over talks on a possible return of the marbles.

"If it is not possible to stick to the assurances, explicit assurances, then it is not a productive way to conduct business and that is why you saw the prime minister make that decision," Sunak's spokesman said.