CNA News

Cyprus – USA Presidents’ meeting symbolic and important, FM says

Foreign Affairs Minister Konstantinos Kombos has said that the meeting that will take place between the Presidents of the USA and Cyprus on Wednesday in Washington will be of a symbolic importance and of political significance.
Replying to questions after a meeting he held in Nicosia with his counterpart from Luxembourg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that Nicosia expects to have a productive discussion in Washington at the highest level, a discussion which will be a continuation of the strategic dialogue Cyprus and the US had a few days ago in Nicosia.
Reiterating the importance of that agenda, he said that the upgrade to the level of the Presidents of the two states will be of particular importance because it has both “symbolic and special political weight”.
In terms of the agenda, he said, they will discuss  bilateral relations on a number of issues related to relations at the level of citizens, business-to-business relations, investment issues, issues related to bilateral cooperation in the area where the situation, as he noted, is extremely difficult.
Kombos recalled that there is a cooperation with the US that goes back several months noting that it is something that both sides want to build further. They will also discuss, he said, issues concerning the evacuation of citizens, ie how a crisis in the region can be managed on the basis of a synchronized reaction or assistance from Cyprus to the USA.
He said that they will of course raise the Cyprus issue, stressing that “for us it is an issue of existential importance”.
“It will be raised from our side, but we take it for granted that it will also be raised from the US side,” the Minister said.
Asked if there will be any message from Washington regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that a very important message as regards its symbolism and which has a particular political significance is that the President of the Republic of Cyprus will be in Washington for a meeting with the President of the USA.
He underlined that the rhetoric on behalf of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side about ‘two states, about sovereign equality’, falls outside the framework of the UN Security Council, and that the meeting between Christodoulides and Biden as well as the relations between Cyprus and the US as they evolve recently are clear messages.
He expressed hope that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership will understand this as a serious message on how to proceed with intensive, substantive negotiations of the Cyprus issue within the framework set by the UN Security Council.
Asked if there was a response from the UN regarding the letter sent by the President of the Republic, Kombos pointed out that a reply is not customary in such a short period of time, noting that in the letter Cyprus was expressing its thanks for the initiative of the UN Secretary-General and its call that the UN moves swiftly to the next steps for the Cyprus issue.
“We don’t have any further information at this time as to when we can proceed. We have expressed our intention to do so as soon as possible,” he said. Asked if it will happen before the end of the year, he said “we would like it to even happen tomorrow”.