Papandreou meets State Department official

Prime minister and foreign minister George Papandreou and alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas met on Wednesday with US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, on the sidelines of the 17th ministerial conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which winds up in Athens later in the day.

The one-hour meeting covered international issues and bilateral topics, while the prospect of Papandreou paying an official visit to Washington in the new year was also discussed.

The Greek side briefed Steinberg on developments in the region, including Athens' political initiative to give impetus and prospect to the Western Balkan countries for accession to the EU in 2014, as well as Greece's "positive intentions" on FYROM's prospects and its initiatives to create a positive climate, including direct contacts between the leaderships of the two countries in tandem with the UN-mediated procedure for resolution of the FYROM name issue.

Steinberg was also briefed on developments in relations with Turkey and on the course of the Cyprus issue.

The two sides further discussed US President Barack Obama's policy on Afghanistan and the decision to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan before withdrawing forces in July 2011, and other regional issues.

Papandreou and Droutsas are also slated to meet with Turkish foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu later Wednesday on the sidelines of the OSCE conference, while the foreign ministry announced that a reply to Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's letter to the Greek premier will not be forthcoming on Wednesday.