Avramopoulos Meets with Russian Counterpart Lavrov

By A. Papapostolou on December 5, 2012 in

Dimitris Avramopoulos

Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is attending a NATO Ministerial in Brussels, met this morning with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
During the meeting, the two Ministers reaffirmed the mutual will for the two countries’ relations to return to a course of substantial expansion and deepening that reflects the historical ties of friendship linking the two peoples. They agreed that these ties are an ideal foundation for the dynamic development of cooperation between Greece and Russia through specific and substantial steps aimed at further upgrading Greek-Russian relations in the immediate future.

In this context, Avramopoulos renewed President Papoulias’s invitation to Russian President Putin to visit Greece, while Lavrov accepted the invitation to visit Athens in the near future, for the purpose of laying the foundations for new momentum in bilateral relations, and signing a number of bilateral agreements that will strengthen the Greek-Russian contractual framework. More specifically, Lavrov’s visit is to see the signing of the Joint Action Program 2013-2015, the Executive Program for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation 2013-2015, the Memorandum of Consultations between the two Foreign Ministries, and the Joint Communiqué on strengthening Cooperation on Freedom of Movement issues.

In addition to bilateral cooperation on vital issues such as economy, investments, energy, tourism, and easing of the visa regime, the two Ministers discussed regional developments. They also exchanged views on the level of Russia’s cooperation with the EU and NATO, reaffirming that Greece is one of the most ardent supporters of the mutually beneficial development of Russia’s relations with the two organizations.