Greek Foreign Minister Meets With Secretary Pompeo in Washington

Deepening the strategic collaboration between Athens and Washington was the focus of the first meeting Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias held with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo at the State Department on Wednesday.
Dendias invited Pompeo to visit Athens in the autumn for the second Strategic Dialogue between Greece and the US, an invitation the US saw positively and was likely to be accepted, the minister said in comments to the press.

This morning, @SecPompeo met with Greek Foreign Minister @NikosDendias, at the Department of State. @USEmbassyAthens pic.twitter.com/Tnr8zgZN2o

— Department of State (@StateDept) July 17, 2019

“I am glad that one of my first meetings as Foreign Minister of the new Greek government was with my US counterpart Mike Pompeo,” Dendias stated, adding that “we all know that the close relationship between Greece and the United States has a long history, but it is particularly interesting to deepen and extend this relationship every time” there is a new meeting.
“We talked about the strategic dialogue between the two countries, the deepening of this dialogue, as well as an outline of other issues included in this dialogue,” noted the Greek minister.
While discussing current geopolitical developments in the Aegean and the East Mediterranean region, Dendias focused on the Turkish stance against the sovereign rights of both the Republic of Cyprus and Greece.
“We requested of the US a clear line of communication, in the event of any issue concerning our relations with Turkey, where an explicit and direct response by the US could be useful,” Dendias stayed. He added that “the Americans took note and will respond to us.”

Από τη συνάντησή μου με τον Υπουργό Εξωτερικών των ΗΠΑ Mike Pompeo στο State Department. @SecPompeo @StateDept pic.twitter.com/R45PTtmsoB

— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) July 17, 2019

In this context, Dendias explained that the Greek side urged the US to keep up a stance of unequivocal support of Greece concerning Turkey’s attitude.
Finally, regarding developments in the energy sector and the various multilateral regional collaborations developed by Greek foreign policy, the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister said he also discussed “the positive prospects for energy and cooperation with Cyprus and Israel, in the framework of this tripartite relationship, as well as in cooperation with Egypt.”
Source: AMNA