Greece wants to help Ukraine rebuild Odesa's historic urban center, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Athens on Aug. 21.
President Zelensky arrived in Athens on Aug. 21 to attend a Ukraine-Balkan summit hosted by Greece.
"Mr. President, Greece will be present in the titanic efforts to reconstruct and rebuild your country," Mitsotakis said. He specified that Greece would lend its experience in restoring cultural monuments "with a special focus on Odesa."
Downtown Odesa, deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site, sustained severe damage from repeated attacks in July. Russian strikes hit the historic Transfiguration Cathedral along with dozens of other buildings.
During the briefing, Mitsotakis also mentioned that the city of Mariupol holds special significance for Greece.
Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast is the center of the Ukrainian Greek community.
Daria Shulzhenko
