Remarks by the President of the Republic following his meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia
In his remarks to reporters following the meeting, President Anastasiades said that “the meeting is placed among the contacts that we are undertaking these days at the United Nations in order to brief [world leaders] about the current state of affairs [on the negotiations about the Cyprus problem] but also, at the same time, about the prospects and the need for the continuation, especially by the Russian Federation, of the support and certainly the contribution to the great effort we are making. There was full understanding on the part of the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs; at the same time we had the opportunity to exchange views about some bilateral issues of mutual interest.”
Asked by a foreign reporter to comment on the address of the US President at the UN General Assembly, President Anastasiades said that “it was an address that perhaps covered all the world problems. What is needed is the cooperation among various countries in order to address the problems. He tackled many problems but, at the same time, what is needed is unity, and this is the only course.”
Asked about the relations between Russia and the European Union, the President said that “our effort as a member state of the EU is to see to it that our relations are normalized. Besides, we are partners and we want to continue being partners as Europeans. I am referring to the EU, because Cyprus has very strong ties with Russia. We believe that the Minsk process is the only course. It is my view that the sanctions don’t provide the opportunity for dialogue or for the resolution of problems; to the contrary, they keep the parties at a distance between them. Moreover, the sanctions bring sanctions from the other side and at the end of the day it is the small EU member states that pay the ‘price.’ “
