ATHENS, April 3 – Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in Odessa on Sunday at the head of a humanitarian assistance mission in Ukraine’s southern port city, the foreign ministry said.
Humanitarian aid was handed over to the city authorities.
Dendias, 62, also wants to set up a continuous mechanism to distribute aid from Greece and reopen the country’s consulate in the city.
“The reopening of the (Greek) consulate will help distribute humanitarian aid and set up corridors to allow the Greek ethnic community from all areas of Ukraine to depart via Odessa if necessary,” the minister said after arriving in Odessa, according to a statement by the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Rockets hit Odessa in the early hours of Sunday morning, the city council said in an online post. Continue reading
Dendias said last month he plans to lead a humanitarian relief mission to the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine, home to thousands of ethnic Greeks, but intense fighting there meant the target was later changed to Odessa.
At least 10 ethnic Greeks have been killed and several injured since Russia began attacking Mariupol. According to the Greek government, more than 150 Greek citizens, ship crews and ethnic Greeks have been evacuated from the area.
Ukrainian forces have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion. Continue reading
Russia has presented its withdrawal of forces near Kyiv as a goodwill gesture in peace talks. Ukraine and its allies say Russia has been forced to shift its focus to eastern Ukraine after suffering heavy casualties.
Reporting by George Georgiopoulos Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky