However, the Republic expressed its readiness to participate in a multinational peacekeeping force at the level of humanitarian missions.
NICOSIA, March 28. /tass/. By definition, the Republic of Cyprus will not send its troops to Ukraine, despite its willingness to participate in a multinational peacekeeping force at the level of humanitarian missions. This was stated on Friday to the Cyprus News Agency by the deputy official representative of the island's government, Yannis Antoniou, in connection with the participation of Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides in the meeting of the "coalition of the willing" initiated by France, which took place on Thursday in Paris.
According to Antonio, Christodoulides expressed Cyprus' willingness to contribute to the creation of a UN-mandated force to monitor security in Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace agreement, similar to the one signed before the deployment of the United Nations peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel. The deputy official representative of the Government added that Cyprus can provide assistance at the administrative and auxiliary levels in humanitarian missions involving members of the National Guard and the police. "And, of course, under no circumstances does the Republic of Cyprus intend to provide troops," he stressed.
At the end of the Paris summit, the President of Cyprus stated that the troops of European countries, aiming to ensure the implementation of the peace agreement, could not be sent to Ukraine as NATO forces, since the idea of their staying there in this status would be initially rejected by the Russian side. Therefore, the "coalition of the willing," according to Christodoulides, should try to obtain a mandate from the UN Security Council for their peacekeeping contingent.
In turn, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after the summit that it was premature to discuss the issue of sending foreign military personnel to Ukraine. According to him, although this topic was in the air, it was not on the discussion table.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the participants of the Paris summit believe that the time has not yet come to lift sanctions against Russia.
Comment by the Russian Ambassador to Cyprus
The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Cyprus, Murat Zyazikov, confirmed in an interview with a TASS correspondent the impossibility of deploying armed forces on the borders with Russia from the Ukrainian side under the mandate of the North Atlantic Alliance. "Russia will never agree to the appearance of NATO 'peacekeepers' on Ukrainian territory," he said.
The head of the Russian diplomatic mission in Nicosia also commented on the results of the Paris summit on Ukraine's support in the conflict with Russia. "The West's attempts to maintain a tough sanctions regime against Russia have already turned into a boomerang effect, causing enormous damage to the very initiators of these illegal restrictive measures. Economic difficulties, rising prices and worsening social tensions in the EU countries are a direct consequence of this thoughtless policy," stated Zyazikov.
The Russian ambassador added that at a time when there are already calls for compromises within the Euro-Atlantic community, the idea of continuing to demonize Russia and further increase sanctions pressure is absurd, useless and destructive.
"As our national leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasized, Russia is ready to cooperate with Europe, but it will no longer make mistakes based on excessive trust in it. The moment has come for the West to admit the obvious: the extension of illegal restrictions is counterproductive. The sooner the sanctions are lifted, the sooner the world will return to a normal state of affairs and stability," Murat Zyazikov said.
