Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Cyprus newspaper Simerini, published on December 24, 2017

Question: What is the Russian Federation’s position in the wake of the unsuccessful Cypriot negotiating process, considering that Russia supported the idea of involving permanent members of the UN Security Council in another conference on the Cypriot issue during Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades’ visit to Moscow?

Sergey Lavrov: We are closely following the UN-mediated inter-community talks on the Cypriot peace settlement under the UN auspices.

Unfortunately, the latest round of talks has failed to produce results, to eliminate substantial disagreements on a number of key issues primarily linked with security guarantees for the future unified Cypriot state. However, all it means is that another stage of the negotiating process is required. In this connection, we are confident that dialogue must continue and that there is no alternative course of action.

Our well-known principled position remains unchanged. The reinstatement of Cyprus as an independent state whose sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity are ensured meets the interests of the Cypriots themselves and the task of maintaining peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region. This goal can be achieved through an all-encompassing, equitable, solid and viable resolution of the Cypriot problem.

We believe that intra-Cypriot aspects of the peace settlement are the prerogative of the parties concerned. We will support any solution that will be found by the Cypriots, with due consideration for the legitimate interests of both Cypriot communities. We consider attempts to impose any ready-made solutions or artificial deadlines from the outside to be unacceptable.

We believe that the UN should play a central role in the peace process because the entire negotiating process is based on UN Security Council resolutions. Therefore our proposal to involve all permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, in the discussion of external aspects of the peace settlement and in an international conference on Cyprus appears logical.

We hope that President Nicos Anastasiades’ support for this idea, voiced at the 72^nd UN General Assembly, as well as during his visit to Moscow, will help formulate a new system of security guarantees meeting modern realities and the interests of Cyprus.

Question: The Cypriot leaders have explained the position of the Republic of Cyprus, which opposes European sanctions directed against Russia. In what way does Moscow benefit from this, and how important is the position of this small country in the Council of Europe?

Sergey Lavrov: Obviously, the spiral of sanctions ratcheted up by the European Union under US pressure has had a major impact on the ties between our states. We value Cyprus’s position, which advocates the fastest possible normalisation of Russia-EU relations. In October 2017, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Nicos Anastasiades discussed prospects for restoring full-fledged dialogue between Russia and the EU at their meeting in Moscow.

We know that the EU political and especially business circles are increasingly voicing their dissatisfaction with this situation. But question regarding the extent to which the voices of Cypriots and other pragmatic Europeans are heard in Brussels, the capital of the EU, should probably be addressed to representatives of European organisations.

Moscow hopes that the EU will overcome this inertia in their thinking and will find enough strength to stop building its Russian policy using the principle of the lowest common denominator, that is, stop pandering to a small but aggressive group of Russophobic countries that play the anti-Russian card in order to achieve their narrow and self-serving goals.

Question: Cyprus and Russia maintain close economic and political ties. Nevertheless, we have witnessed some strange developments in connection with the Browder case not so long ago. Does Moscow understand the reasons why the Cypriot Ministry of Justice stopped the investigation and what are its expectations on this issue?

Sergey Lavrov: First of all, I would like to note that the investigation on the case you mentioned has been suspended under Cypriot judicial proceedings, but it has not been closed. We have received the relevant explanations from the Republic of Cyprus’ competent legal departments and taken them into consideration.

After that, a number of Cypriot media outlets launched what looked like an inspired campaign to discredit our bilateral cooperation in the area of providing legal assistance on criminal and civil cases. The idea that Russia’s requests are politically motivated, and that cooperation between law enforcement agencies of our countries exceeds the boundaries of standard international legal practice is totally groundless.

In this connection, I would like to note that our cooperation is in strict compliance with the 1984 Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the   Republic of Cyprus on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations on Civil and Criminal Cases, the 1965 Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, the 1959 European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, as well as other bilateral and international documents.

I think you will agree that such cooperation is an absolutely normal practice in interstate relations. As far as we know, Cyprus actively cooperates with other countries in this area, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, Russia has been selected as a subject of media speculations.

This prompts the question: Who stands to gain from this? The situation around the court investigation of the William Browder case should be perceived as biased. We believe that Browder’s determination and that of various circles supporting him to portray this case as politically motivated is absolutely groundless since the case has to do with tax-related and other economic crimes he committed in the Russian Federation.

We hope that Cyprus’ law enforcement agencies will conduct an unbiased and honest investigation, and the culprits will be found and brought to justice.

Question: Are there any additional prospects for future cooperation between our countries, including energy cooperation? What is your message to the people of Cyprus and the large Russian-speaking community living on the island?

Sergey Lavrov: We have established very friendly relations with Cyprus, and we are confident that they have excellent prospects. The October 2017 visit to Moscow by President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades provided an additional impetus to interstate dialogue.

We aim to proactively implement top-level agreements with our Cypriot partners. This includes the implementation of the Joint Action Programme between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Cyprus for 2018-2020, as well as the Joint Declaration by our governments on cooperation in the area of economic modernisation.

The final protocol of the tenth meeting of the Russian-Cypriot Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in early October 2017 in Nicosia, charts specific aspects of practical cooperation. We are confident that a considerable growth potential exists in this area. In this connection, we note with satisfaction that bilateral trade has expanded greatly throughout 2017. In January-September 2017, Russian-Cypriot trade soared by 42.4 per cent on the same period in 2016. It is important to consolidate this positive trend. We can boost trade and economic cooperation only by improving the structure of our trade, by increasing the share of value-added goods and implementing investment projects.

Regarding energy, relevant Russian and Cypriot ministries and organisations are studying promising partnership aspects, including those in the area of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and green technologies.

Russian compatriots, including tourists visiting your hospitable island and those permanently living in Cyprus, are making a weighty contribution to stronger friendship and trust between our nations. The Cypriot-Russian festival in Limassol is an important event on the packed bilateral agenda. We value the friendly attitude of Cypriot authorities towards Russian citizens. I would like to use this opportunity to urge representatives of the Russian community in Cyprus to actively promote the further rapprochement of our countries and nations.

I would like to wish the readers of your newspaper and all Cypriots a happy holiday season, merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I wish the people of Cyprus peace, wellbeing, stability and all the best.