Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias held a series of phone talks last night with his counterparts from the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov; Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier; and the Republic of Turkey, Mevlut Çavuşoğlu.

Mr. Kotzias’ talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, centered on the issue of the downed Russian fighter jet. Mr. Kotzias expressed his strong concern regarding the incident and stressed the importance, at this time, of de-escalating the tension and confronting the situation with composure on all sides. The two Ministers also discussed the more general situation in Syria, and Mr. Kotzias stressed to his Russian counterpart that Greece firmly supports the Vienna talks on the resolution of the Syrian issue.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Kotzias talked with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Çavuşoğlu, whom he congratulated on being reappointed the Foreign Minister of Turkey. There was then a brief exchange of views regarding Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s recent visit to Turkey, and the two Ministers agreed to meet, on 2 December, in Brussels, on the margins of the NATO Ministerial.

During his telephone conversation with the German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, there was an evaluation of the regional security situation following the downing of the Russian aircraft. The two Ministers agreed that composure must prevail in order for the tension to de-escalate, expressed their joint support for the Vienna talks on the resolution of the Syrian crisis, and exchanged views regarding Mr. Kotzias’ upcoming visit to Iran.