The Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos is against imposing sanctions on Russia and in favor of finding a peaceful solution through dialog, so that all parties involved in the Ukrainian crisis are satisfied.
According to a report by Ta Nea, Athens wants to keep an open channel with Brussels and the transitional Ukrainian government as well as Moscow, while balancing the two ahead of the emergency European meeting to discuss the Ukrainian crisis, where the transitional PM of Ukraine has been invited.
Mr. Venizelos insisted that international law must be respected, regarding sovereignty and human rights and stressed that Greece wants to maintain a relationship with the Russian government. The Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke with his Russian counterpart on Sunday, prior to the emergency session of the EU’s Foreign Ministers.
Athens wants to avoid escalating the escalation of a “Cold War” stand off and has threatened to end negotiations for visa liberalization of Russians, should Moscow not defuse the situation.
