Greek prime minister to visit Russia

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi today.

The leaders plan to address many low-level foreign policy issues, though energy will expected to be the focus, as Russia is one of Greece’s main suppliers.

Greece imports 45.85% of its natural gas and 9.5% of crude oil from Russia. Athens hopes to secure a bilateral agreement that would have a pressing, beneficial impact on natural gas prices.

Tensions between the two states have risen amid Greece’s efforts to strengthen defence cooperation with the US. Earlier this year, the US and Greece signed an enlargement of their defence cooperation agreement, a move that will advance security in the region and increase NATO’s ability to deter Russia