Russian, Greek Defence Ministers discuss terrorism

At a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, the defence ministers of Russia and Greece discussed acts of terrorism committed in Moscow and the world, including in republics of the former USSR.

Greece, as before, continues to give a backing to "Russia's right to sovereignty and national security", Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papandoniou said.

He also informed his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov of the threats to Greece from Turkey and the Turkish leadership on Cyprus.

"After two or three years of detente in relations with Turkey and its decreasing claims to the sovereign territory of Greece, the current Turkish leadership has again returned to the earlier practices", said Papandoniou.

Still, Greece "will stick to its recent policy regarding Turkey and remain loyal to the principles of peace and stability", he said.

Papandoniou also said that Greece is satisfied with military-technical co-operation under way with Russia.

"We are going to have different sources of weapons and will buy competitive Russian products", he said.

The Greek defence minister has promised that Greece will invite Russian manufacturers to participate in all the future arms and military hardware tenders.