When asked to comment on Turkey’s violation of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Tsipras apparently noted the dispatch of the "Barbaros" research vessel which he said is "a flagrant violation of the international law and undermines the bilateral talks.”
When reporters asked him about a possible Russian loan, the Greek premier said that the government in Athens is in discussions with partners who have already lent Greece much needed capital and he noted that there are "no other thoughts" (on a possible loan from Russia).
He did however state that Cyprus and Greece can become "a bridge of peace" between Europe and Moscow.
(Editor's Note - Let us hope that the solution to the Cyprus issue does not come with another devastating Annan-type plan... Moreover, we cannot forget the statements that have been made over time by various SYRIZA MPs regarding Greek-Turkish relations and the division of the Aegean Sea. Also, the recent comments by the government, or its sudden warming up to Moscow, does not convince us here at HellasFrappe that Greece has suddenly decided to rebuild its ties with Russia. We have yet to see any tangible hands on efforts towards such a development. As far as we are concerned it could just be deaf statements by the Tsipras government who we truly believe -judging by the Ministers and MPs that represent it- to be another Papandreou-style government. We truly hope that our instinct is wrong on this issue because we believe that Greece should befriend all nations, and be on equal terms with both the super powers of the West and the East. One of our readers asked us to give SYRIZA the benefit of the doubt... We will, and every time they adopt decisions that benefit Greece we will applaud them, however they are failing to convince us about their sudden love for Russia because they already turned down several privatisation offers -which were reportedly made by Russians in Greece-, and let us not forget that last week they also turned down the Chinese offer for the port of Piraeus.)