Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday.
A tweet by the Foreign Ministry said that the conversation focused on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the need for steps on Turkey’s behalf to de-escalate tensions in the region.
The call took place in the wake of Stoltenberg’s initiative to launch talks between Greece and Turkey on “establishing an enhanced deconflicting mechanism.”
After Athens rebuffed the NATO chief’s claims on Thursday that such talks had begun, Stoltenberg said on Friday that the talks were technical and that no agreement has been reached.
While Athens was annoyed about the development, Stoltenberg’s initiative is broadly seen as an attempt to create a climate for dialogue rather than launch any substantive talks, which is what the new push by Berlin is aimed at achieving.
