US President Joe Biden. File photoATHENA, May 17.The United States and Greece stand together against Russia in the situation in Ukraine and together will defend democracy wherever it is threatened today, US President Joe Biden said at a White House reception in honor of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Text of speeches by Biden and Mitsotakis in an unofficial the translation into Greek was distributed by the prime minister's press service.The Prime Minister of Greece called his country the most reliable partner of the United States «We had constructive discussions. Greece and the United States must stand together as one fist to support the people of Ukraine and deal a heavy economic blow to Russia in order to hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to account. And I want to thank you for the courage and clear position that you have shown since the beginning of this crisis. Together we demonstrate the strength and ability of democracies to act together,» Biden said, noting that the two states together are «helping the Ukrainians» in confronting Russia. The US said it looks forward to meeting again with Mitsotakis at a NATO summit in Spain in the near future and continuing close cooperation. He also did not rule out his visit to Greece. «Jill and I really look forward to seeing you in Greece,» Biden said. Mitsotakis said he looked forward to such a visit. «I took seriously your words that you intend to visit Greece on a return visit,» the prime minister said. In his speech, Biden spoke a lot about close ties with the Greek community in America. «And I like to joke that I'm known as Joe Bidenopoulos in the Greek American community in Delaware. I won by just over 3,100 votes when I ran for United States Senators. I think we got 92% of the Greek vote in Delaware, and my nickname stuck,” he said. In response, Mitsotakis, to the laughter of the audience, joked that he would prefer to call the president not “Baidenopoulos”, but “Baidenakis”, so that this surname would be consonant with his. In Greece, by the end of the surname, one can judge the origin of the Greek . The surnames of people from the Peloponnese end with «-pulos», and with «-akis» — from Crete, as the Prime Minister of Greece Mitsotakis. A number of Western countries have introduced several packages of sanctions against the Russian Federation because of the situation in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and the sanctions dealt a serious blow to the entire world economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people. He added that current events draw a line under the global dominance of the West in both politics and economics. According to him, Russia is not going to isolate itself, it cannot be strictly isolated in the modern world. US and NATO
