As tensions have arisen in recent weeks over conflicting hydrocarbon claims of ownership between Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean, NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, on 26 August urged restraint and called for dialogue between the two states during a meeting of European Union Defense Ministers.

He welcomed the efforts of Germany to resolve the crisis and clarified that he was in regular contact with both Ankara and Athens over the issue.

”We continue to provide NATO as a platform for Allies to meet and discuss how to find the solution to this situation in the eastern Mediterranean”, he stated. He added that “the problem needs to be resolved, based on the spirit of alliance” and “based on the spirit of Allied solidarity and international law”.

US President Trump reportedly also had a phone conversation with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Meanwhile, military exercises between France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, Crete and the islands of Cyprus continue.