The governing ruling force’s specific decisions have dealt a severe blow to Cyprus-Russia relations

AKEL on Russia’s stand regarding EU sanctions against Turkey

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 18 July 2019, Nicosia

The Russian Federation reiterated its disagreement yesterday with the imposition of EU sanctions against Turkey. This Russian position does not find us in agreement and constitutes a negative development. It is clearly not irrelevant to the approach in the relations between Russia and Turkey, but also not irrelevant to Russia’s long standing position that only the Security Council of the UN has the right to impose sanctions.

However, it is evident that the strategic choice of the governing ruling forces to attach Cyprus to the US-NATO war machine and to align themselves with Western aggression against Russia has also contributed to reaching this point. The governing ruling force’s specific decisions have dealt a severe blow to Cyprus-Russia relations.

Nonetheless, it should be noted that despite the position expressed yesterday by Russian diplomacy and in spite of the Cypriot government’s political decisions, Russia continues to support the resumption of a dialogue on the Cyprus problem and a solution based on the parameters of the UN, as the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov pointed out during the recent meeting he had with the General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou.

The Cypriot government must build on them to restore Cyprus’ relations with a country that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and has traditionally friendly relations with our country. The goal of our foreign policy must be to win and not to lose friends in the struggle for our country’s vindication.