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- Ελληνικά
The President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides visited this afternoon a ship of the US 6th Fleet docked in Larnaca.
In his statements to journalists at the port of Larnaca, from where he boarded the ship Mount Whitney of the 6th US Navy Fleet, accompanied by the US Ambassador Ms. Julie Fisher, the President of the Republic said: "First, my presence here and the presence of the Americans demonstrates the fact that our relations are as high as they have ever been and there is political will on the part of both Governments to strengthen them even further in the areas of defence, security, political and economic relations. We have a roadmap of developments that we want to see in the immediate future, developments towards strengthening our bilateral relations.
Secondly, my presence here demonstrates the role that we are trying to play, particularly at this stage, with the tragic war in Israel, we see every day what is unfolding, including through our efforts to create a sea corridor to send humanitarian aid to Gaza. There is already humanitarian aid in Cyprus.
As we speak, a technical team from the Republic of Cyprus is in Israel, where they are looking at some details, and we will have a visit this week from Israel and some European countries.
And on a political level, just on this particular issue, on Tuesday I will travel the same day to Egypt and then to Jordan to see all these details, so that humanitarian aid can be sent to Gaza as soon as possible. Our role here is that of a pillar country of stability, of security, and we hope that this situation that we are seeing will soon come to an end. It is tragic what we see every day.
And as the Republic of Cyprus, as the EU member state neighbouring the region, with excellent relations with the US, but also with all the neighbouring states, to help - always to the extent possible, I want to keep repeating this - on the issues that we can, especially on issues of a humanitarian nature."
Asked about his brief meeting with the UN Secretary General on the sidelines of the Climate Summit in Dubai and their conversation, the President said: "I briefed the Secretary-General on all that is happening in the buffer zone, what is happening in St. Dometius, and more generally on the approach of the occupying forces. At the same time, the SG officially mentioned to me another name, another personality that he intends to appoint (as his envoy for the Cyprus problem)."
He informed all the parties concerned and is awaiting the answers. Our response will be given on Monday and the same information came through our Permanent Delegation in New York which was informed of the SG's intention, as well as the Negotiator was informed by UN Assistant Secretary-General Ms. DiCarlo.
I hope to have developments soon. I repeat, our response will be given on Monday."
Asked what transpired between him and the Turkish President during their brief contact in Dubai, the President said: "It was a general discussion about the Cyprus problem, about the need to create developments, to solve the Cyprus problem, which, as I mentioned to him, will help to strengthen Euro-Turkish relations and in general to create in our region such conditions that will be to the benefit of all states."
Asked about Chevron and how the Republic of Cyprus' plans are progressing, President Christodoulides said: "From the beginning our intention was to have a positive outcome with Chevron. Its presence in the EEZ is a vote of confidence, it's a vote of confidence, it's broader and the relations I mentioned with the U.S.
We have a positive answer, we have some final details that we will see, but yes, we are on the right track so that we can proceed as planned. I welcome the fact that the same intention has been there from the beginning of the discussions with Chevron."
For her part, the US Ambassador told reporters that: "We enjoy the incredible cooperation between the teams in our countries that are working so hard to bring security and stability, particularly to the citizens of this region. This is very important to us," he added, expressing great satisfaction with the President's visit to the US Navy ship.
(PM/TM/ASP)
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