Greece says talks with Turkey on East Med could restart soon

Greece and Turkey are close to reviving talks on a tense dispute over rights to exploit potential offshore natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, a Greek official said Monday.

"We are close to restarting the exploratory talks. ... There will be an announcement when this is finalized but the atmosphere is good," Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

Petsas also confirmed local media reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Greece for a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss the crisis, but added that the schedule is still being worked out.

The two neighboring NATO members have been at odds for decades over maritime boundaries for commercial exploitation in an area between Turkey's southern coast, several Greek islands and the war-divided island of Cyprus.

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