The relations between Western countries and Russia have deteriorated dramatically, but we have not reached the level of severing diplomatic relations, Professor Andreas Theofanous, President of the Cyprus Centre for European and International Affairs and the Department of Political Science and Governance of the University of Nicosia, told the Cyprus News Agency, noting that the severing of diplomatic relations is a last resort, which at the moment is seen as a distant possibility.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency , Mr. Theofanous said that the channels of communication between the two sides should remain open because if they are interrupted, it will be very dangerous. "If there is such a thing, it will be an indication that we are heading for further escalation," he noted.
He pointed out that "right now the sanctions are a form of war, an economic war. At the moment the West is supporting Ukraine in various ways by providing military aid, by providing guidance, but NATO countries have not dared to have direct engagement with Russia because this will lead to a very dangerous escalation and this will bring us in front of the danger of nuclear disaster," he said.
Theofanous noted that "if NATO troops get involved in the war with Russia, of course there is a risk of escalation and the risk of using nuclear weapons increases. I think everybody wants to avoid that but sometimes things happen in an escalating way, one event leads to another event."
He said that "there have been some secret contacts between the US and Russia and this has been published. To date there has not been any agreement and unfortunately the war continues. The channels of communication must remain open. As far as I know, there has not been any suggestion either by an analyst or a politician to break off diplomatic relations", he added.
He also recalled that "when Turkey invaded Cyprus there was no question of breaking off diplomatic relations between Turkey and Greece and when Turkey launched a new air, sea and land attack on Cyprus on 14 August, neither did the Karamanlis government break off relations with Turkey. What Karamanlis did is that he said he would withdraw from the military arm of NATO and that is what he did. And then a few years later he got back in," he said.
He pointed out that there is a clear deterioration in West-Russia relations because of the war, and how the situation will develop will depend on the course of the war. He also said that in Europe there is the tendency of Poland and the Baltic countries who want an even tougher attitude towards Russia, and there are other countries who want this war to end because it has consequences, such as high inflation and recession.
[BR][BR]Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
