"We hope that the situation will stabilize and a positive agenda will be proposed right away," Kotzias said, adding that Greece was ready to act as a mediator in improving Russia-EU relations.
Kotzias emphasized that EU-Russia relations should not be seen exclusively through the prism of the Ukraine crisis.
"At the recent session of the Foreign Affairs Council, we offered the European Union to move away from endless debates on our relations [with Russia which are seen] through the prism of the Ukraine crisis," the Greek minister noted.
"We have a special problem with Ukraine. As you know, in Mariupol and other parts of eastern Ukraine there are about 100,000 people of Greek origin and we are trying to do everything possible to help them," Kotzias said during a briefing in Moscow.
FM @NikosKotzias in #Moscow:"Greece is deeply concerned for 100,000 Ukrainian citizens of Greek origin in #Mariupol and eastern #Ukraine"
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) 11 февраля 2015
Athens insists that political crises can only be solved using diplomatic dialogue, Nikos Kotzias said.
“We see that from the east and south, Greece is in the center of destabilization. Greece wants to explain to its partners that all problems could be solved only through diplomatic dialogue; otherwise, everyone will face a humanitarian crisis,” Kotzias said during a briefing in Moscow.
"We hope that appropriate solutions will be made in Minsk and that compromise will be found," Kotzias said during a joint press conference in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"I’m personally sure that a diplomatic solution [to the Ukrainian crisis] is possible," Kotzias added.
FM @NikosKotzias on #Ukraine:"We hope for a positive outcome from the #Minsk talks.The solution must be only diplomatic, not military"
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) 11 февраля 2015
The Greek foreign minister arrived in Moscow earlier on Wednesday to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. They are set to discuss energy cooperation between the two countries and ways to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis, among other issues.
"We support the politics of suggestions, discussions and dialogue. We think that the Ukrainian crisis should be solved quickly and diplomatically and we do not want Ukraine to create more general destabilization. We hope that all needed decisions will be made in Minsk. I personally hope for democratic solutions,” Kotzias said in response to a question posed by Sputnik news agency in Moscow.
"We will respect any decisions that will be made in Minsk," he added.
Ukraine's southeastern regions are involved in an armed confrontation between Kiev forces and Donbas independence fighters. The city of Mariupol came under shelling in the beginning of 2015. The attack on the city resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians.
Russia has repeatedly called on the warring sides to resolve the conflict politically, but attempts to maintain a ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine have failed so far, with the opposing parties accusing each other of continuing the confrontation.
