Russia’s willingness to support the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Maria Ángela Holguín Cuéjar, to resume negotiations between the island’s communities, was expressed by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the two officials’ meeting in Moscow.

According to the relevant announcement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Russian side, support was expressed for Mrs. Holgin’s work on assisting inter-community contacts.

The principled position of the country was underlined in favor of a comprehensive, sustainable and fair solution of the issue within the framework of the international legal framework, as defined in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, without external pressure, with a key role of the Greek Cypriots themselves and of Turkish Cypriots in line with their interests and concerns, the announcement points out.

Although Russia maintains a position of principles, as ERT describes and reports, remaining committed to international legality and what the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council require, it has recently caused concern and irritation in Nicosia both with its sometimes ambiguous rhetoric and moves such as the opening of a “consulate” in the occupied territories where thousands of Russians live illegally, having illegally bought properties, mostly on the land of Greek Cypriot refugees.

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In fact, the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted months ago the provision of all relevant services by the “consulate” in the “northern part of Cyprus”, as she called the occupied areas. However, Nicosia was more disturbed when, on March 15-17, Moscow proceeded to open ballot boxes in the “consulate” for the Presidential Elections in Russia.

Nicosia-Moscow relations are not going through their best period and this is something evident with Russian officials expressing themselves aggressively from time to time, as reported by CNN Greece.

At the beginning of April, the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office sent requests to Cyprus, the USA, Germany, France, and Cyprus regarding the organization of terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia or against Russian interests abroad, while the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that Moscow would monitor the reactions of the four countries.

Even though Nicosia tries to balance with behind-the-scenes diplomacy and handle Russian movements with the utmost care, due to its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it does not hide its discomfort with the developments, but also its concern about the attitude that Russia can hold in the Cyprus issue, given its already close relationship with Ankara.

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