MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the country’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the death of former Greek president Karolos Papoulias. The telegram was published on the Kremlin website on Monday.

"Please accept [my] deepest condolences over the death of Karolos Papoulias, an outstanding Greek politician. We will remember him as a courageous man, fighting in the ranks of the Resistance against the fascist invaders at a young age, and as a true friend of Russia, who did a lot to cultivate mutual cooperation between our countries while serving as president and in other high-ranking government positions," the Russian president noted.

Papoulias, who died on Sunday at the age of 92, as a teenager, participated in the Resistance movement during the Second World War. The Cypriot press notes that as a politician he was a prominent representative of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party and one of the closest associates of the founder of this political force and the country’s prime minister Andreas Papandreou (1919-1996) - a significant figure in Greek history of the second half of the 20th century. Papoulias held the post of Greek Foreign Minister in Papandreou’s cabinet twice - in 1985-1989 and 1993-1996.

Papoulias served as Greece’s president for two consecutive five-year terms, from 2005 to 2015.