V. Nuland: Violations of Greek airspace by Turkey are provocative

The United States is not insisting on abandoning the EastMed pipeline, it is simply expressing concern about energy developments, said US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland. As he explained during an interview given to ERT’s correspondent in Washington, Lena Argyri, the final decision on this project should be made by the countries involved.

Continuing, the American Undersecretary described as provocative the violations of the Greek airspace by Turkeystressing that talks with Ankara on a possible purchase of F-16 aircraft have not been completed.

In addition, Ms. Nuland announced the participation of Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken in the tripartite cooperation scheme of Greece, Cyprus, Israel in the coming weeks, while in relation to the Cyprus issue, he clarified that he has clearly explained to the occupying leader Tatar that A two-state solution in Cyprus is not acceptable to the United States.

Asked why she went “empty-handed” to Greece – which is the most reliable ally – while offering Turkey – which has taken a far more than clear position in the Ukraine war – the creation of a strategic mechanism, Nuland replied that “The United States has had a Strategic Dialogue with Greece for many years, even at the level of Foreign Minister. We saw another round of this dialogue in the autumn. My trip was primarily a thank-you trip to Greece, which is such a stable ally. I thank you for the progress we have made together, but also for planning our strategy for how we will continue to ensure that Europe has energy and how we continue to help Ukraine. “Now in relation to the strategic mechanism that we launched in Turkey, it is something that Greece has had for many years.”

In fact, at this point he added that in the coming weeks Anthony Blinken will participate in the tripartite cooperation scheme of Greece, Cyprus, Israel, thus sending the best message of support. “The United States strongly supports this cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, and I had the opportunity to attend the meeting with the three Foreign Ministers recently. I believe we will have a meeting very soon, in the coming weeks,” she said. between the three ministers with my minister, with Foreign Minister Blinken, to emphasize the importance of this scheme and the work they are trying to do together, what we are all trying to do together, for energy, for safety at sea and for other important issues “.

Regarding energy developments, he was asked why the US insists on reiterating that the EastMed pipeline has no future at a time when the countries involved seem to have a different view. For her part, the US Undersecretary clarified that “the US does not insist on anything and if the countries in the region decide that they want to proceed with this project, they will do it. Our concern is what I expressed in Greece, that is, that the project It is extremely expensive, the waters are very deep, and it may take ten years or more to complete when everyone needs energy here and now.Greece is already an energy hub and we believe there are faster, more efficient and more productive ways to transfer energy in the area, including exploring other areas, via power cables, etc. It obviously depends on the countries in the area if they want to proceed with the project, but our concern is that in ten years we want to be all independent of hydrocarbons and have turned to clean energy, so now we need to maximize these solutions that are fast and “They can benefit everyone.”

In connection with her recent trip to the occupied territories, she said that she explained very clearly to Mr. Tatar that the US supports the solution of the bi-zonal bi-communal federation and not the solution of the two states that he proposes. Asked why US officials continue to visit him as he now moves outside the UN negotiating framework, Victoria Nuland said: “It is a regular US tactic when we go to the Republic of Cyprus, to always visit the North. We have been trying for many decades. As you know, President Biden, when he was Vice President, and I, when I was Undersecretary of State, to encourage the negotiations for a bi-zonal bi-communal federation. proposed by the North “.

Source: Capital

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