Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis intends to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 8 in a bid to revive relations between the two countries, Greek First Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in an interview with the Sky radio station on Tuesday.
He pointed out that the Greek prime minister was going to be one of the few European leaders whom President Putin would receive in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. The diplomat noted that he himself had visited Moscow last week, leading a Greek government delegation that signed a protocol on cooperation and a series of agreements aimed at deepening economic cooperation between the two countries. "We expect that tomorrow’s meeting will indicate a revival of relations though it won’t change the main features of Greece’s foreign policy, that is, our EU and NATO membership," Varvitsiotis noted.
At the same time, he emphasized that Russia was a key factor for the European security architecture. "What we want as far as Russia is concerned is to deepen economic cooperation by boosting bilateral trade and attracting investment in order to fill the gap created by the measures that Russia took in response to European sanctions," the diplomat said. When speaking about the energy sector, Varvitsiotis stressed that Russia was a reliable and crucial supplier of natural gas to Greece.
Greek government spokesperson Ioannis Oikonomou said on Monday that Mitsotakis planned to discuss energy, tourism, cultural and education cooperation, as well as regional and global developments, with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin press service said earlier on Tuesday that the parties were expected "to discuss the entire range of issues related to Russian-Greek political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and exchange views on pressing global and regional issues.".
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