In a warm atmosphere and with references to the role of the Greek community living in Southern Russia and the Holy Apostles Cyril and Methodius, who created the Cyrillic alphabet starting from Byzantine Thessaloniki, began the talks of Foreign Ministers Nikos Dendias and Sergey Lavrov in Sochi, Russian resort in the Black Sea.
Welcoming N. Dendias and the Greek delegation, S. Lavrov referred to the historical peculiarity of the relations between Greece and Russia, which is reflected especially in Southern Russia, as “here there are monuments of Greek antiquity and our common history, here lives an active Greek community of about thirty thousand people, I hope you will feel at home here. ”
The Russian Foreign Minister also pointed out the fact that today is celebrated in Russia the Day of Slavic Scripture and Culture, to state that “we remember that the Holy Apostles, brothers Cyril and Methodius, who wrote the Cyrillic alphabet in the 9th century and translated into Slavic the first ecclesiastical books came from the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki “and conclude that” both the place and the day of our meeting are of significant symbolic importance in terms of confirming our close historical ties. ”
The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, N. Dendias, expressed his pleasure to visit the area, where there are populations of Greek origin and noted that “the Greek element appeared in this area 2,500 years ago and I think it had a very important participation in its creation which is the great Russia of today. ”
“The reference to history shows the depth of our relationship and it is a great opportunity for me to discuss with you both bilateral and regional issues in the hope of building an even stronger relationship and understanding of the broader issues,” he concluded. N. Dendias, who initially had a half-hour private conversation with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out in an extensive briefing that this is the fourth meeting of the two ministers since 2019 and highlighted as the purpose of the meeting the promotion of political dialogue between the two countries, but also “the implementation of what was agreed between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Prime Minister of the Russian Government Mikhail Mishustin” during their meeting in Greece on March 24 and their telephone communication on May 5.”
Source: ANA-MPA
