Recipe for all conflicts

Cypriots were invited to Sochi

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov completed a two-day official visit to the Republic of Cyprus. Relations with this country, as Russian diplomats noted to Vremya Novostey, “are developing in an atmosphere of traditional friendship and are free from political problems.”

Sergei Lavrov visited not only the capital Nicosia, but also Larnaca and Limassol and even visited the “green line”, which since 1974 has divided the island into the southern Greek and northern Turkish parts. The minister’s interlocutors were the President of the Republic of Cyprus Tasos Papadopoulos, Speaker of Parliament Dimitris Christofias, Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoulli and international diplomats involved in the Cyprus settlement.

Currently, the Republic of Cyprus (part of the European Union) and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Türkiye, coexist on the island. Speaking about the terms of the Cyprus settlement, which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon limited to 2008, the Russian minister harshly said that “with all due respect to the UN Secretary General,” it is not for him to determine the terms. This will be decided by a UN Security Council resolution, which “of course, will not contain any ultimatums.” Mr. Lavrov drew parallels with the Kosovo settlement: “Artificial deadlines, imposed by a third party or unilaterally, will not work either in the case of Kosovo or in the case of Cyprus. This is a recipe for all conflicts."

Large Russian companies operate successfully on the island of Cyprus. For example, LUKOIL owns several dozen gas stations and is the leading foreign oil marketing company in Cyprus. According to VN, Russia would now welcome the participation of Cypriots in the development of the Sochi 2014 Olympic infrastructure. The legal basis for this is the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the development of the Krasnodar region.

Katerina LABETSKAYA, Nicosia - Larnaca - Limassol