Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis on Thursday discussed the current migration crisis in Greece with visiting Deputy Assistant State Secretary Matthew Palmer, of the US State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. 

“Only the Republic of Cyprus can claim maritime rights from the territory of Cyprus”, the State Department stated on the occasion of the dispatch of the “Yavuz” drilling ship in the Limassol maritime region, calling on Ankara to put a brake on all relevant activities in Cyprus’ EEZ.

An agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea signed by Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya is "unproductive" and "provocative," a US State Department spokesperson commented, adding that Ankara’s claims are contrary to international law, which stipulates that islands have the same rights as mainland regions to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.