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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-11-01
CONTENTS
[01] Lavrov's visit to Athens on Nov. 1-2 'especially important for
Greece', FM Kotzias says
[01] Lavrov's visit to Athens on Nov. 1-2 'especially important for
Greece', FM Kotzias says
The visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Greece on
November 1-2 was especially significant for Greece and came during
a fragile international conjuncture, Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos
Kotzias commented in an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax
on Monday.
Kotzias said the visit was expected to confirm the good bilateral
cooperation between Greece and Russia, especially in the area of
investments, economy and energy. It would also serve as an opportunity
to discuss a series of international and regional issues, such as the
crisis in the Middle East with emphasis on Syria and the Cyprus issue. The
minister expressed satisfaction with the recent signature of a programme
of talks between the Greek and Russian foreign ministries for the period
2017-2019 covering a broad range of bilateral cooperation issues.
"Greece believes in the need to keep channels of communication with
Russia open," Kotzias added, noting that Russia was an integral part of
Europe's security architecture and should not be excluded from this in
any way. Asked about EU preparations to impose new sanctions on Russia
in response to the situation in Syria, Kotzias said that he personally
had reservations about such a prospect.
"Sanctions, if they are adopted, must have a specific purpose and
this must be to normalise the situation. If sanctions are adopted
exclusively due to the activation of cold-war reflexes, then the specific
measures will be unproductive and not contribute to keeping channels of
communication open," he said.
Greece's position was in favour of a focus on diplomacy to create the
conditions that will allow an end of the civil conflict in Syria and
avoid extending a fruitless antagonsim, Kotzias added.
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