Wednesday, March 18, 2015

BBC News — Greek PM brings forward Russia Putin trip

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin on 8 April, a month earlier than planned, as the indebted eurozone member state seeks to avoid bankruptcy.... 
The visit to Moscow, confirmed by officials, was initially reported by Ta Nea newspaper, which said that the Athens government had sought to bring forward the meeting, originally planned for 9 May, because of "stifling economic conditions" set by Europe's creditors....
If no progress is made, his trip to Russia may come in handy, since Moscow has already said it would be willing to consider a request for a loan by Athens.
The Greek leader could also play the Russian card in another way. He could tell Mrs Merkel that he will give the green light to Russian investment, in state railways, the port of Thessaloniki and other state assets that Moscow has publicly shown an interest in. These are steps the EU would be keen to avoid....
Several ministers in Mr Tsipras's Syriza-led government have close contacts with Moscow and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has openly questioned EU sanctions imposed on Russia because of its annexation of Crimea and its conduct elsewhere in eastern Ukraine.
BBC News
Greek PM brings forward Russia Putin trip

2 comments:

Ralph Musgrave said...

And perhaps Scotland will threaten to allow Russian bases in Scotland if it doesn't get exactly what it wants from the rest of the UK.

NeilW said...

Perhaps it will.

And unless you are prepared to invade Ukraine style then there is nothing you can do about it - other than give them a better deal if that bothers you.

Not a fan of democracy are you.