Parthenon marbles row raises fresh fears over fraught UK-EU relations

War of words between Athens and London escalates after Rishi Sunak's snub to Greek prime minister

Rishi Sunak's snub of his Greek counterpart over the Parthenon marbles raised fresh questions about Britain's fraught relations with its European neighbours as a war of words between Athens and London escalated on Tuesday.

A meeting on Tuesday between Sunak and Kyriakos Mitsotakis was cancelled because the Greek prime minister reneged on assurances that he would not use a UK visit as a public platform" to lobby for the return of the marbles to Athens, Downing Street said. The Greek side has denied any such assurances were given.