Next Greece-Russia Intergovernmental Commission Meeting May Be Held In December - Athens

The next meeting of the Russia-Greece intergovernmental commission may take place in December, Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos told Sputnik.

RHODES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2018) The next meeting of the Russia-Greece intergovernmental commission may take place in December, Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos told Sputnik.

"I hope that it [meeting of Greek-Russia intergovernmental commission] could be arranged in December but we are still in the exchange of possible dates with our counterparts," Katrougalos said on the sidelines of the Dialogue of Civilizations forum on Rhodes that was held on October 5-6.

A Greek government source told Sputnik on Sunday that the commission session was planned for December 5.

According to Katrougalos, Russia and Greece have a lot of projects "from transport to cultural issues" that should be discussed.

When asked whether Greece was interested in Russian gas projects, the diplomat said that such projects were in line with the country's plans to become an energy hub.

"In general, it is our intention to become an energy hub and we are open for negotiations with all friendly countries regarding the pipelines that could be passed through our soil," Katrougalos said.

He stressed, at the same time, that all the possible gas pipelines projects should be implemented in compliance with international law, which was one of the Greek foreign policy's constants.

The commission is co-chaired by Katrougalos and Russia Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh. The last commission session took place in June 2017 and the sides signed documents on industrial and scientific cooperation, as well as on collaboration in the energy, tourism and transport sectors of the economy.

Since then, a diplomatic crisis broke out in Russian-Greek relations, sparked by Athens decision to expel two Russian diplomats and ban two more from entering the country over national security concerns in July 2018. Russia responded by expelling two Greek diplomats. A visit by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Russia was also planned for the second half of the current year, and was later called into question in light of the diplomatic row, but is now back on track and planned for December 12, according to a Greek government source.

The deputy foreign minister recalled that Tsipras expressed his willingness to restore the good relationship that the two countries used to enjoy.

"Prime minister's announcement was clear that we want to overcome the difficulties and to come back to the previous level of our relationships," Katrougalos stressed.

The last bilateral talks between Tsipras and Putin took place in March 2016.