ishtartv.com - tass.com

June 13, 2018

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks on Tuesday with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias who is paying a working visit to Moscow.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two top diplomats will consider the current state and prospects for Russian-Greek relations in various areas. "The parties plan to pay special attention to cooperation in the trade, economy, investment and energy spheres, analyze the state of the legal framework of bilateral relations," the ministry noted.

Global issues

Moscow is looking forward to a useful exchange of views with the Greek side on global issues, including the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The protection of the Christian population in the Middle East is also an issue of mutual interest.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow and Athens see eye to eye on many global and regional issues. "Joint efforts are being made to maintain high dynamics of the political dialogue and implement the top-level agreements, including the ones reached at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of the One Belt, One Road international forum," the ministry added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that Russia and Greece mark 190 years of diplomatic relations and 25 years of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation this year. "Work is underway on commemorative events timed to coincide with these anniversaries," the ministry noted.

Economic cooperation

In spite of unfavorable international situation, the two countries have been able to achieve the trade turnover growth, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. "The trade turnover between Russia and Greece grew 27.4% to reach $3.7 bln in 2017, and this trend has been maintained in 2018," the ministry stressed.

Moscow drew attention to the restoration of the tourist flow from Russia to Greece, adding that it reached 856,200 people in 2017. "The program of the Year of Tourism, which has been implemented since September 2017, has consolidated the positive trend. The 2016 Russia-Greece mutual years gave a fresh impetus to bilateral cooperation," the ministry noted.