Mitsotaki-Putin four in progress in Sochi – ‘Significant agreements reached’

LAST UPDATE: 14.02

Kyriakos Mitsotakis is meeting with Vladimir Putin at the summer residence of the President of the Russian Federation in Sochi.

Welcoming the Greek Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin thanked him for his visit to Russia and said: history and the year of history between Russia and Greece, and exactly this year of history of Russia – Greece coincided with the 200 years since the beginning of the Greek revolution, and as is well known, Russia has made a significant contribution to achieving the goals set by the Greek people “.

At the same time, he stressed: “I would like to point out that today our relations are developing quite positively. If last year we had a drop in bilateral trade by about 35%, this year we have an increase of 56% and we have almost reached the 2009 indicators. Significant, good agreements have been reached between the governments, and a package of agreements has been prepared and signed. “Lunch conditions. Welcome”.

During his reception by Vladimir Putin, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that “there is room for improvement in Greek-Russian relations in the economy, bilateral trade and tourism.”

The Greek Prime Minister described the year of Greek-Russian History, 2021, as a trigger for closer cooperation at all levels, while sending the message that the Greek economy is growing at a very fast pace, as the pandemic is coming to an end, as he noted. Mr. Mitsotakis did not fail to invoke, as he described it, the role of Russia in regional developments in its capacity as a permanent member of the Security Council to emphasize that they will have the opportunity to exchange views on regional security issues. .

Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not forget to praise Russia’s contribution to the success of the goals of the Greek Revolution of 1821 on the occasion of the completion of 200 years since its inception. “These are events that inextricably link our two countries. This revolution led to the creation of an independent Greek state and we never forget that Russia played an important role in it. And also thanks to the efforts of the great powers of that time, Greece found strength. to become a modern independent state “, said Mr. Mitsotakis.

The prime minister also said he was happy to visit Sochi, the home of many Russians of Greek descent. In fact, the Greek Prime Minister reminded Mr. Putin that he first visited Sochi 30 years ago, when he accompanied his late father and then Prime Minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

The Russian President, for his part, emphasized the special ties and relations between the two countries, noting that the year of Russian-Greek history coincided with the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution, during which, as he said, the Russia contributed to the fulfillment of the aspirations of the Greek people.

The agenda of the discussions

The first quarter of the two leaders, after the election of the government, in June 2019, will move in a multi-level environment. Among others, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Vladimir Putin will discuss:

– Bilateral relations.

-Energy cooperation, in a critical global situation (Russia is a key supplier of our country, as almost 46% of natural gas imported by Greece and 9.5% of crude oil comes from Russia).

-Cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture and education.

-International and regional developments, with emphasis on the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya.

-The front of the pandemic virus, in the shadow of the appearance of the new “Omicron” strain of Covid-19.