Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Evangelos Venizelos attended the extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on the situation on Ukraine that took place on March 3, following his trip to Ukraine (2.03) where he had meetings with the country’s state and political leadership, as well as representatives of the local Greek Communities.

The Council was "firmly convinced that there needs to be a peaceful solution to this current crisis in full respect of international law and called on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops to the areas where they are permanently stationed on the basis of the agreement for the Black Sea Fleet stationed in Ukraine," underlined the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

In his statements on the margins of the meeting, Venizelos said that the FAC had the opportunity “to draw up a comprehensive framework for the progress of Ukraine, for overcoming Ukraine’s domestic crisis, but also for averting tensions, for averting an escalation that would be to everyone’s detriment.”

See also: Council Conclusions on Ukraine