Nikos Dendias to leave for Russia next week

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is flying to Russia next week, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the invitation of Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Papaioannou during a briefing for diplomats.

Mr. Dendias is reported to fly to Moscow on February 17th to meet with Mr. Lavrov on February 18th. As Mr. Papaioannou recalled, this is the third visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Russia, while in December Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Sochi where he met with President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting will discuss a number of issues: bilateral relations between the two countries, cooperation in the economic and cultural spheres, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Cyprus issue, as well as developments in Eastern Europe.

As the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified, “Greece is a member state EU and the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO”, but always emphasizes to everyone the importance of maintaining channels of communication. “We see Russia as a key and integral part of the European security architecture,” Papaioannou added.

“We emphasize to all the need for de-escalation, a message that we convey not only to the Russian side, but to all parties. “Any escalation of the situation will be to the detriment of everyone,” he said characteristically and emphasized Greece’s special concern for the Greek community in the region of Ukraine, which numbers about 120,000 people.

PS It seems that the leaders, or at least the heads of the Foreign Ministries of many European countries, have decided to check in Russia and Ukraine. It does not matter whether this trip will give any benefit or not, but in any case, then it will be possible to say to the voters, “We prevented the war between Russia and Ukraine.” Other real reasons are hard to find.

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