JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu for what he called the fast pace of coronavirus vaccinations in Israel, in joint statements after their meeting held on Monday.

The Greek Premier also expressed his satisfaction for the scheduled singing of an agreement between the two countries' tourism ministers, and he added that "we would like to welcome Israeli tourists as soon as is feasible."

Mitsotakis also referred to the strategic partnership between the two countries, which he called significant, and underlined that the Eastern Mediterranean "must remain a sea of peace for all countries."

Greece will "bounce back very soon from the economic crisis after the coronavirus pandemic", he added.

Referring to a medicine against coronavirus currently being manufactured by Israel, Mitsotakis said that he is "pleased to have discussed it" and noted Greece will participate in clinical trials.

Earlier today, Greece’s prime minister said from Cyprus that it’s unlikely “substantial” talks to reunify ethnically split Cyprus could resume if Turkey and Turkish Cypriots insist on pursuing a two-state accord that defies a United Nations and European Union-endorsed framework for federation.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that in their public statements, the leaders of Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots are “outside the framework” of an envisioned federation made up of Greek and Turkish speaking zones that the two sides agreed would form the basis of a peace deal more than 40 years ago.

Mitsotakis said both the U.N. and the EU reject any notion of a two-state deal for Cyprus that was ethnically divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup aiming at union with Greece.