The United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland expressed gratitude to the Republic of Cyprus for its solidarity and support to Ukraine.
In remarks following a meeting with Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides at the CYCLOPS training center in Larnaca, Ms. Nuland expressed her pleasure at returning to Cyprus after a four-year absence and working "y her old friend Secretary of State, who was excellent, professional and creative. The Minister mentioned in the best way that this relationship is growing and expanding," she said.
She referred to the security cooperation that the US had with the Republic of Cyprus four years ago when she was back in Cyprus and noted that today "there is the training center and everything we do together. We have American investments here, we talk about energy security, but most importantly right now, when democracy is under threat."
We talk, the US Assistant Secretary of State continued, "about the importance of security and territorial integrity and respect for international law. We are extremely grateful to the Republic of Cyprus for its solidarity with all of us in the transatlantic community, the global community of democracies who have chosen to stand with Ukraine because Ukraine is fighting for the same values and principles that the United States stands for."
She also said that "e have a lot to talk about today and we will have more to talk about when we see the President" of the Republic tomorrow.
For his part, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides described the meeting as fruitful and constructive, adding that "we discussed issues that will be discussed tomorrow with the President of the Republic."
He noted that "we have explained how we see the situation, how we see the situation in the context of all the developments that are taking place regarding the security architecture of Europe, the conduct of foreign relations with international law. Then we entered into a number of issues concerning bilateral relations between the two countries." She noted that one of the issues was the creation of the Training Center, which "was organized and funded by the United States and from which we will all benefit and it is for the education of people for the security of the country and the region."
Ms. Nuland was asked to answer a reporter's question whether her country is willing to replace Russian weapons held by Cyprus, which the US is reportedly asking to be sent to Ukraine, despite the ongoing arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus.
After saying that "we are talking to democracies around the world about supporting Ukraine in any way they can, whether it's humanitarian aid, whether it's security, whether it's support and whatever else," he said that "it's not for the US to ask Cyprus, but it's for Cyprus to make its own decisions about what it wants and what it can do."
Asked about reports of malign influence from Russia in the Eastern Mediterranean, Ms Nuland replied that "we are talking about Russian disinformation, lies from Russia that started initially with whether it would invade Ukraine, which then spread. Now that disinformation continues, talking about crazy things that the Ukrainians might do, when in fact it's things that the Russians themselves are doing, including war crimes that we've seen on the ground."
Thus, continued "all of us have an interest in exposing Russian disinformation, in making sure that our citizens know the truth, and in making sure that Russian citizens know the truth to the extent that we can, despite the iron curtain that has been erected over them," Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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
