Blinken meets Greek PM Mitsotakis after an hour of talks with Erdogan

AFP | Chania

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken arrived on the island of Crete yesterday to meet with the Greek prime minister and address Greece’s concerns about the looming sale of US fighter jets to Ankara, after talks with President Recep Tayip Erdogan in Turkey.

Athens has fiercely contested the US jet sales because of longstanding territorial disputes with Turkey in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.

Greece is seeking to purchase a batch of more advanced F-35 jets from the United States to counter the perceived Turkish threat. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said in an interview with Skai TV yesterday that it was only a matter of time before Greece joined the F-35 programme, saying that GreekUS relations “have reached their peak”.

He said the talks between Blinken and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his family home in Chania would focus on two issues: international developments regarding war in Gaza and Ukraine, and bilateral relations especially on energy and defence cooperation issues, including the supply of F-35s.