Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Odessa today, where he met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Prime Minister first visited the city’s port, where he was received by the Ukrainian President, and was briefed on the operation of the grain export corridor through the Black Sea and the Danube.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis then visited the administrative building of the Port of Odessa, where he had a one-to-one meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This was followed by a meeting with the participation of the delegations of the two countries.
During the talks, the Prime Minister reiterated Greece’s continuing support for Ukraine, as well as its firm support for its European and Euro-Atlantic perspective.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed Greece’s willingness to assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine, with an emphasis on Odessa, a city of particular historical and cultural importance for Greece.
They also examined other areas of cooperation, such as the energy sector, where Greece plays an important role regarding the operation of Europe’s southern supply corridor and is developing the vertical interconnection corridor to better meet the needs of the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Immediately afterwards, the two leaders visited the housing complex that was hit a few days ago, resulting in the death of 12 civilians, including five children, where they laid flowers at the memorial in honour of the victims.
The Prime Minister then visited the Museum of the Filiki Etaireia (Society of Friends), which is housed in the old residence of the national benefactor Gregory Marasli, and laid a wreath at the monument erected in the courtyard of the museum in honour of the three founders of Filiki Etaireia, Nikolaos Skoufas, Athanasios Tsakalov and Emmanuel Xanthos.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis also had the opportunity to talk with Greeks of the Diaspora and expatriates who gathered to welcome him at the museum.
“I wanted to come especially to Odessa – we managed and found a way to coordinate our programmes with President Zelenskyy – to let you know that we stand by you, we support Ukraine, but we also support you in your struggle to keep your Greek roots alive.
I am deeply moved by the opportunity to meet you and I think we are all shocked by the tragedy especially of the Greek diaspora of Mariupol. We want to do everything in our power to put these very difficult moments behind us and look to the future with more optimism.
But I really thank you for making the effort to come here today and I really wish you the best,” the Prime Minister noted.
“All of Europe supports Ukraine’s struggle for freedom and independence. And of course Greece cannot be absent from this effort,” added Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
