The implementation of priority energy projects in Bulgaria and the region of southeastern Europe have been in the focus of a meeting of Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov with Amos Hochstein, U.S. Special Coordinator for International Energy Affairs, in Washington.

The two sides emphasised the importance of accelerating the implementation of the construction of Bulgaria-Greece gas link and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis, the foreign ministry in Sofia said in a statement on Sunday.

The two projects are crucial for Bulgaria’s plans to achieve diversification of sources and routes of energy supplies.

During the second day of his working visit to Washington Daniel Mitov also met with Daniel Fried, the State Department's Coordinator for Sanctions Policy, to discuss cooperation in sanctions policy between the United States and the European Union and possible approaches for increasing its effectiveness, according to the statement.

The European Union extended economic sanctions against Russia by six months until January 31, 2017 earlier this month. The sanctions limit access to EU capital markets for a number of Russian financial institutions, as well as energy and defense firms. The U.S. and the EU have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s perceived involvement in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied those claims.

Developments in Ukraine, the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements, and the risks and threats posed by recent changesto the security environment in Europe, as well as the Middle East conflict, migration and terrorism were also on the agenda of the meeting between Daniel Mitov and Daniel Fried.