Cyprus can be trusted as solid US ally

Cyprus has “all the ingredients” to be a “credible and reliable partner” for the US in maintaining stability and security in the East Mediterranean region, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said.

Veteran politician Kasoulides, who came out of retirement to retake his old job after the resignation of Nikos Christodoulides, says that bilateral relations with the US have grown by “leaps and bounds” since 2013.

In a statement to the Associated Press ahead of his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken next month, Kasoulides said the improvement in relations culminated in a law that the US Congress passed in 2019 lifting embargo on non-lethal defence equipment and services.

The lifting of the embargo was made possible after Washington waived a requirement that Cyprus cease to offer refuelling and other port services to Russian warships.

The US had accused Russia of playing a “very destabilizing role” in the eastern Mediterranean.

Kasoulides said Cyprus is ready to discuss concerns that any partner may have about the “malign influences” that another country exerts in the region.

But he noted that Cyprus is a small country with limited resources” whose foreign policy is guided by “strict adherence to international law and good neighbourly relations.”

The Cypriot foreign minister said bolstering Cyprus’ position as an agent of regional stability are its “advanced networks of cooperation” with neighbouring countries including Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

“We constantly strive to upgrade our role as an actor of regional stability, be it on a bilateral basis, which … includes European allies, or through the trilateral mechanisms that have repeatedly proven their worth,” Kasoulides said. (source AP)