US vice president pays first visit to Cyprus in over 50 years

United States Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday for a two-day visit to the eastern Mediterranean island, which is the first by a US Vice President in 52 years.

Both the United States and Cyprus have said the visit is aimed at confirming what they described as a strong strategic relationship developing between the two countries.

"My visit here underscores the significance the US attaches with the Republic of Cyprus.. It is a growing cooperation and this relationship is a genuine strategic partnership that holds an even greater promise," Biden said in remarks to the press shortly after arriving from Romania at Larnaca airport.

Biden hopes to instil some momentum in the ongoing negotiations aimed at reunifying Cyprus which was split in Greek and Turkish Cypriot regions in a 1974 "military action" (sic) by Turkey, in response to a coup by Greek military junta officers.

The United States had always been a strong player in the Cyprus issue ever since the island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

Biden made a point of referring to the first ever visit to Cyprus by a United States official in 1962 when then Vice President Lyndon Johnson arrived on the island to underline American support for its independence arrangement.

Biden mentioned Cyprus's stepped-up role in the region and in Europe and its possibilities to contribute towards energy sufficiency and security.

• He said energy issues will take up priority in his talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday, along with the crisis in Ukraine and the Cyprus problem.

• Biden is expected to explore ways for sanctions on Russia to be enforced without unduly hurting the Cypriot economy, given the fact that thousands of Russians live in Cyprus and keep their money in Cypriot banks.

Political analysts said United States interest in Cyprus was renewed after the discovery of natural gas deposits in the island's exclusive economic zone adjacent to large Israeli gas fields.

Energy experts say the area south-east of Cyprus, known as the Levantine, may contain over 100 trillion cubit feet of natural gas and could prove to be an alternative source of energy to Europe, helping it to wean off Russian gas.

Biden said he did not bring with him a solution to the Cyprus problem adding that this was up to the Cypriots themselves. He said he would listen to the two sides about what they think the solution should be.

"I came here to contribute in efforts to solve the problem and not to impose a solution," he said

Biden is to have separate meetings with President Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and will later join the two over dinner before departing on Thursday night.

• Meanwhile, in a move touching upon United States-Russia rivalry, the Russian Embassy in Nicosia said on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aleksey Meshkov will pay a visit to Cyprus between May 28 and 29, for talks with the Cypriot government.

Spokesman of the Russian Embassy in Nicosia, Sergey Filimonov, told the Cyprus News Agency that Meshkov will discuss Cyprus-Russia bilateral relations including economic issues and the Cyprus problem, as well as international issues, including the crisis in Ukraine.

Cyprus and Russia enjoy traditionally close relations going back almost 1,000 years, which have grown stronger due to a common religious and cultural tradition and also close economic ties.

These ties are reflected in large number of Russians living or visiting Cyprus as tourists and big deposits by rich Russians in Cypriot banks. 
 [globaltimes.cn]
22/5/14
--
-

• Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden to the Press at Larnaca International Airport

• Μπάιντεν: Αναγνωρίζουμε μόνο την Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

• US presses Cyprus for tougher sanctions against Russia...

• Cypriot President: each EU country should take own decisions on sanctions against Russia

• Κυπριακό και ενέργεια στην ατζέντα της επίσκεψης Μπάιντεν στην Κύπρο