Anastasiades meets Lavrov in New York

President Nicos Anastasiades met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Tuesday where they discussed bilateral relations and developments concerning the Cyprus problem.

In welcoming Anastasiades, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, Lavrov said the two would be able to also see how a number of issues agreed during the president’s visit to Moscow were progressing.

Anastasiades described the meeting as “part of the contacts we are holding at the United Nations to inform on the current state of affairs”, adding that at the same time, they had examined the prospects and the need to continue with Russia’s support and contribution in the “great effort we are making” for a Cyprus solution.

He expressed the view that there was complete understanding on Lavrov’s part, and that the two had also exchanged views on some issues of bilateral interest, with government sources saying that these include the avoidance of double taxation and judicial contribution.

Asked by Russian journalists about EU–Russia relations, Anastasiades spoke of the need to normalise them and said Cyprus was working towards this.

“We believe that the Minsk process is the only way,” he said “Sanctions do not offer the chance for dialogue and problem resolution. On the contrary, they keep the parties apart,” explaining that sanctions are imposed on one party which in turn takes counter-measures which result in those paying the price being the smaller states.

Anastasiades also met the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

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.