Putin met with Mitsotakis, thanked him for vaccines and purchased gas

Photo: EPA / EFE

Bilateral cooperation, energy, tourism, investment, climate change, pandemics, Russia's relations with the EU and NATO, the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Cyprus issue were among the topics discussed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at their meeting in Sochi.

-Our relations are traditionally built in the spirit of friendship, cover a wide range of areas of cooperation and have a mutually beneficial character of a partnership. This was the spirit of today's talks with Mitsotakis. "They were comprehensive and effective," Putin said.

He said that despite the difficulties created by the pandemic, trade between the two countries was at a pre-pandemic level, rising by 56 per cent in the first nine months of the year. Putin thanked Mitsotakis for Greece recognizing Russia's Sputnik V vaccination certificates, and referred to energy, saying Russia provided more than 40 percent of Greece's needs and that supplies were already available through the new pipeline.

"Russia is fully fulfilling its obligations to Greece and to consumers from European partners," he said, adding that they were ready to upgrade co-operation in this area.

Photo: EPA / EFE

The Greek Prime Minister stressed that they had a long honest and productive discussion on bilateral relations and their perspective, noting that he sees the meeting as "another bridge to strengthen relations between the two nations and an opportunity to expand cooperation between the two governments based on mutual respect and mutual interest ”.

Regarding the EU-NATO relations with Russia, Mitsotakis stressed that he recognizes the great challenges, but prefers the need "to always have open channels of communication."

Russia is part of the European security architecture. Therefore, the functional relationship ultimately benefits all parties. Greece, as a member of the European Union and NATO, is approaching these relations with great care and that is why I did not hide my concern about the escalation of tensions in Ukraine. "I believe that there will be no winner in the conflict, there will only be losers," Mitsotakis said.

Regarding NATO, Putin said that "It is a military bloc and unfortunately this bloc follows a line of conflict with Russia." and sees "behavior that is not friendly to Russia," noting that Moscow is not seeking conflict.

Speaking at a video conference with US President Joe Biden yesterday, Putin said they had agreed to continue the discussion and exchange ideas.

-We will prepare our ideas within a week and submit them to the American side for consideration, said Putin.

He added that "every country has the right to choose the best way to ensure its security, but without undermining the security of others, in this case the security of Russia."

Answering a reporter's question about Greek-Turkish relations, Putin said that "the starting point for all differences is dialogue", and that there was a mood on the Greek side, while expressing support for such a dialogue.

Mitsotakis said that Turkey uses "aggressive actions that violate international law and often undermine stability in the region", and Greece is always open to dialogue under international and maritime law

At today's meeting in Sochi, Putin and Mitsotakis also adopted the program of activities between the two countries for the period 2022-2024.

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