So far, there have not been any requests for any operation for the evacuation of civilians, Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Theodoros Gotsis, told CNA, noting that the Republic of Cyprus was at “the highest level of preparedness.”

The Republic of Cyprus was focusing on the diplomatic efforts, he noted, regarding the crisis in the region.

Asked by CNA about the Special National Plan ESTIA for the reception and repatriation of foreign citizens from an area in crisis through the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, given the situation in Lebanon and reports that the UK was working on a mass evacuation plan via Cyprus, Gotsis said that Nicosia was “at the highest level of preparedness, both at the level of cooperation with the countries that have a special interest and also internally, as regards the competent services.”

So far, he added, there have not been any requests for any operation for the evacuation of civilians.

“We are focusing on the diplomatic field”, Gotsis noted, adding that the Republic of Cyprus expresses “deep concern”, calls for the avoidance of escalation and expresses its support for the mediation efforts of the US and France.

According to Gotsis, these issues are being discussed in the series of contacts held by both the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.

In particular, he said, this was mentioned, both in the tripartite meeting of the President of the Republic, with the Greek Prime Minister and the French President, in his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, but also in Kombos’ meetings – the tripartite meeting with Egypt and Greece – and at a bilateral level, with his counterparts from Palestine and Lebanon. A meeting with his Emirati counterpart is also expected, among others, he added.

He noted that this was also discussed in Kombos’ meeting with the Australian Foreign Minister, who in a post on social media, thanked the Republic of Cyprus for its readiness in case assistance was needed for the evacuation of Australians from regional crises.