Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Athens, Greece on Nov. 2, 2016. Greek leaders and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said here on Wednesday the prospect was good for deepening bilateral ties, while calling for "fair" international cooperation when facing common challenges. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Greek leaders and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said here on Wednesday the prospect was good for deepening bilateral ties, while calling for "fair" international cooperation when facing common challenges.
The agenda of discussions in Athens included a wide range of issues, such as the enhancement of bilateral collaboration with a focus on investments, the energy sector, tourism, and culture.
The two sides also discussed the relations between Russia and the European Union, as well as regional developments regarding the Middle East, Syria, Ukraine and Cyprus, according to a press announcement issued from the office of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
"We are in the midst of a period in which we face parallel challenges, regarding the refugee crisis, as well as terrorism and the security crisis. We must jointly seek constructive solutions to these crises and these solutions will be reached through dialogue," said Tsipras.
Both Tsipras and Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos pointed to differences regarding the resolution of several thorny issues, particularly with regards to the Syrian crisis, but said all parties concerned should set them aside and work together fairly on viable solutions to restore peace and safeguard stability.
"There should be collaboration, and we support it, between Russia, the United States and the EU, to end this war," said Pavlopoulos.
The Russian official expressed Moscow's commitment to the United Nations Security Council resolutions to address both the Syrian and the Cyprus issues.
"In the cases of Syria and Cyprus, we believe that the main thing to do is to implement what has been agreed in the framework of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council," he said.
Referring to Syria, Lavrov said: "We are convinced that should the UN Security Council's resolutions be fairly implemented, the situation could change, it could improve significantly."
Regarding bilateral ties, Lavrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias underscored the two countries' mutual willingness to advance cooperation in many fields in the future.
