NICOSIA, Cyprus: Russias foreign minister said Tuesday that Moscow is ready to help ease rising tensions over Turkey’s search for energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is monitoring the situation in the region and would help start a genuine dialogue with all parties that would generate mutually acceptable solutions.
Lavrov was speaking after a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades during an official visit to the island nation.
Greece and Turkey have been locked in a tense standoff in recent weeks as Turkish survey vessels and drill ships continue to prospect for gas in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights.
Greek and Turkish armed forces have been conducting military exercises in the area in a show of muscle-flexing to underscore each sides resolve.
European Union members Greece and Cyprus accuse Turkey of violating international law and of gunboat diplomacy. Turkey insists its defending its rights and those of breakaway Turkish Cypriots on ethnically split Cyprus to their rightful share of the areas potential gas deposits.
The EU is mulling imposing tougher sanctions on Turkey over its illegal actions if talks fail to end the standoff.
Lavrovs visit comes a month after Anastasiades asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to personally step in so that Turkey is convinced to cease its unlawful actions.
But Russia’s top diplomat also expressed Moscows concern over what he said was U.S. attempts to stir up conflict instead of peaceful solutions in the eastern Mediterranean.
Lavrov was alluding to Washingtons decision to partially lift an arms embargo on Cyprus that was designed to prevent an arms race hindering United Nations-facilitated talks to reunify the island.
The embargo was directed against the southern, Greek Cypriot part of the island, where Cyprus internationally-recognized government is seated.
Washington said it was lifting the arms embargo against Cyprus for one year with the option of renewal to let it procure non-lethal equipment.
Turkey reacted angrily to the partial embargo lifting and announced that Russia would be conducting live-fire naval exercises this month in areas in the eastern Mediterranean where Turkish research vessels are prospecting for gas.
Cyprus is striving to bolster relations with the U.S., but not at the expense of its ties with Moscow or Beijing, on whose support it often counts in the United Nations.
The U.S. ambassador to Cyprus, Judith Garber, said the lifting of the embargo had no connection to valued partner and ally Turkey, but aimed to strengthen regional security and to counter malign actors in the region.
Garber said Washington waived a requirement that Cyprus cease to offer refueling and other port services to Russian warships, but that it would continue to encourage Cypriot government authorities to deny those services.
We believe that Russia is playing a very destabilizing role in the region, especially in Syria, Garber said.
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