Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asserted in Brussels on Thursday that Greece will defend Ukraine and always stand to support Ukraine if Russia invades but firmly believes in the need for open lines of communication, as Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias heads to Moscow.
While attending the informal meeting of the European Council ahead of the African Union-EU summit, Mitsotakis comments:
“We reaffirmed our full unity, our support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and our determination to act in the event of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, in consultation with our Euro-Atlantic allies and our Euro-Atlantic allies.”
“At the same time, we reaffirmed our belief in dialogue and the need for all channels of communication with Russia to remain open, whether through the Normandy format, the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] or bilateral contacts. Between EU member-states and Russia,” he added, referring to a German, French, Russian and Ukrainian officials meeting in the northern French region in June 2014
Mitsotakis said Foreign Minister Nikos Dandias was visiting Moscow on Friday. He will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss developments in the region.
“Greece has a keen interest in these regional developments because tens of thousands of ethnic Greeks live in Ukraine,” he said.
“We want to keep all the channels of communication open. We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” Mitsotakis added.
