President of the Republic Demetris Christofias who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, on Tuesday had a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with whom he discussed the Cyprus problem and the Republic’s exploitation of hydrocarbons.
Lavrov said that Russia’s position is based on the international law and he urged all parties to restrain from any actions that would “aggravate the situation“.
Speaking to the press after the meeting which lasted twenty minutes, President described Russian’s stance on hydrocarbons, as a “shield” for Cyprus.
“Once again I expressed our gratitude to the Russian Federation and H.E. the Minister for the statement regarding the exploration for gas and oil. It is a position of principle based on the Convention of the Law of the Sea of the UN. This is a shield for Cyprus”, President noted.
He also added that “other countries followed on the same direction”.
President Christofias said that he had a “very warm” exchange of opinions on problems and issues of common interest with Russian FM, noting that as regards the Cyprus problem, both countries pursue common views, regarding the implementation of the UN resolutions.
“A solution which would be agreed between leaderships of the two communities, we are in favor of convening an international conference, which- after the agreement of the internal aspects of the problem-is going to exclusively examine the international aspects of the problem”, President underlined.
President Christofias also expressed his gratitude to the Russian Federation and the Russian people for the “consistent support” towards Cyprus.
Russian FM said that they discussed the “traditionally friendly relations” between the two countries, adding that “we have quite a considerable trade and economic interconnection, we have a very good ‘human relation’, we cooperate strongly on international issues, here in the UN and the OSCE.”
He also expressed his appreciation on Cyprus’ contribution in promoting the strategic partnership between Russia and the EU.
Referring to the Cyprus problem, Russian FM said that Russia is firmly in favor of reaching an agreement on the basis of internationally agreed principles, which are the Security Council Resolutions.
“Those resolutions outline parameters for finding a settlement which would be subject to the agreement by both communities on Cyprus, it would be sustainable and would be subject to strong international support”, he noted.
Lavrov also referred to Cyprus’ exploitation of hydrocarbons, noting that Russia’s position is based on international law and the Law of the Sea.
“We strongly hope and encourage all parties to avoid any steps which would aggravate the situation and we encourage everyone to remain within the legal framework of the Law of the Sea Convention”, he added.
