Russian position on Cyprus unchanged, ambassador says

Russian ambassador Stanislav Osadchiy reiterated Wednesday his country’s opposition to EU sanctions as a general rule, stressing that Moscow’s position on the Cyprus problem remained unchanged.

Osadchiy spoke to the Cyprus News Agency a day after Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia newspaper that Moscow opposed EU sanctions against Turkey over its drilling activity inside Cyprus’ economic waters, arguing that such steps would only aggravate the long-standing conflict in the region.

The Russian ambassador said it was well known that Moscow was and remains against any sanctions that do not go through the UN Security Council.

“Only this body has the authority to use such weapons,” he said.

Osadchiy said sanctions usually yielded the opposite result and ultimately made the situation worse.

“All disagreements can be resolved at the negotiating table. Russia supports the continuation of negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem,” he said.

EU foreign ministers on Monday suspended negotiations on the Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement and agreed not to hold the Association Council and further meetings of the EU-Turkey high-level dialogues for the time being due to Ankara’s drilling activities off Cyprus.

They also endorsed a proposal to reduce the pre-accession assistance to Turkey for 2020 and invited the European Investment Bank to review its lending activities in Turkey, notably with regard to sovereign-backed lending.

The ambassador said his country’s position on the Cyprus problem remained unchanged, noting that Moscow had not supported Turkey’s unilateral actions inside the island’s exclusive economic zone.

“Nothing should obstruct negotiations on the Cyprus problem. Our well-known position on the Cyprus problem remains unchanged,” Osadchiy said.

 

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.