Moscow Visit Opens New Chapter in Energy Ties With Russia - Greek Minister

During his visit to Russia, Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis held several rounds of talks with his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak, and Russian energy giant Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anna Liatsou — Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis told Sputnik his recent two-day visit to Russia has opened a new chapter in Russian-Greek energy relations.

While in Moscow, Lafazanis held several rounds of talks with his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak, and Russian energy giant Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller.

“My meetings, especially those with Miller and Russian energy minister Novak, were very substantive, extremely constructive, and, I should say, they opened a new chapter in the energy partnership between the two countries,” Lafazanis told Sputnik on the heels of the talks.

The Greek energy minister visited Moscow March 29-30, just a week before the official visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Russia.

Lafazanis said a stronger energy partnership between Moscow and Athens would benefit both countries and help stabilize Europe.

Greece, which imports around 65 percent of its natural gas from Russia, has been critical of the European Union’s policy to diversify its energy supplies away from Russia following a political split over Ukraine.