The date for the meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council between Greece and Turkiye will be decided jointly and depends on the respective leaders' schedules and circumstances, Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis said on Wednesday.

Speaking to ot.gr and tovima.gr sites, Gerapetritis denied that Greek-Turkish talks had stalled, and he said that all parts relating to political dialog, the positive agenda, and the confidence-building measures are continuing as usual. He also said the Council would "take place shortly."

Referring to a possible conflict next month over the research for the Greece-Cyprus power line connection, Gerapatritis said that the Greek-Turkish dialogue of the past two years has produced positive results. In addition, as the electric cable is partially funded by the European Union, it is of European interest as well. "After all, sinking surface cables is protected by international law and does not require any license. My sense and expectation is that the project will continue as usual," the minister noted. The entire Mediterranean contains surface power and data transfer cables, he added.

"Unfortunately, the fact that there is no delimitation of maritime zones - that is, the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone - it reproduces these types of tensions and will continue to produce them until we reach a joint understanding, an agreement, a cross-referenced arbitration agreement," Gerapetritis said. "Our effort is to guarantee international law in peace, and that is what we will continue to do."

Referring to maritime spatial planning, the foreign minister said this was an obligation to the European Union that Greece is overdue on. "The plans for the maritime spatial planning should have been tabled already. They will be tabled shortly, so that we are not remiss on this obligation to the European Union as well," Gerapetritis said. "You know, we are driven by geography and have been trying for two years to turn geography into a bridge rather than a divide."