ATHENS — All islands have the same rights as continental territory, as established by the International Law of the Sea, US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt told the Delphi Economic Forum, conducted online, on Wednesday.

Pyatt noted among other things that the memorandum signed between Turkey and Libya cannot remove anything from Greece and was, additionally, unhelpful and provocative. On the other hand, he called the Greek-Italian agreement signed on Tuesday over maritime zone delineation in the Ionian Sea "the right way to do things, inclusive of all parties".

Speaking of the EastMed pipeline, he said that the US supports it "as a strategic enterprise" and that Greece was contributing to "diversifying energy sources, securing supplies" in Europe.

Asked to comment about the death of George Floyd, the ambassador added, "Americans were appalled at the death of George Floyd…This is not a partisan issue. People from all backgrounds are coming together to work toward overcoming our shortcomings, perfect our democracy."