Maas calls for direct talks between Greece and Turkey

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Thursday stressed the need to create the conditions for Turkey and Greece to resolve their problems directly and to avoid "military confrontation", as the neighbours and NATO allies remained locked in a tense dispute over offshore energy exploration rights.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Berlin, Maas said that "a solution must be found" for the ongoing tensions between Turkey and Greece, adding that if a resolution is not met, relations between the EU and Turkey would become "extremely problematic".

Turkey and Greece have been quarreling for weeks over Turkey's decision to carry out seismic research in the waters between the two countries, escorted by Turkish warships - waters which Greece has claimed it has exclusive rights on undersea gas and oil deposits, sending their own warships to observe and track Turkish ships.

Maas noted that an EU summit in late September is already meant to discuss Turkey, and that he was "pretty sure" that a solution "must be found by then for the conflict between Turkey and Greece."

He also commented on the ongoing tensions in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused by the country's opposition of rigging recent elections, prompting countrywide protests.

The German Foreign Minister said: "We have seen that, in recent days, the repression unleashed by Lukashenko has been stepped up again, so we as the European Union must discuss today how we can increase pressure on Lukashenko."

Maas also said he expected Moscow to cooperate in clarifying the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is undergoing treatment at a Berlin hospital.

He said that if they do not cooperate, "assumptions and speculations will remain in the air" which could lead to poor relations between Russia and the EU.

Navalny, an opposition politician and corruption investigator who is one of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia last Thursday and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

Over the weekend, he was transferred to the Charité hospital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of “cholinesterase inhibitors” in his system. But the hospital in the German capital hasn't yet identified a specific substance.