NICOSIA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Cyprus Moscow was ready to help mediate in any talks with Turkey as tensions simmer over energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea.
“As far as your relations with Turkey are concerned, we are ready to promote dialogue, pragmatically based on mutual interests and in search of decisions, which will be fair and based on international law,” Lavrov said on Tuesday at a meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia.
NATO allies Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over the extent of their continental shelves. Ankara also disputes the rights of Cyprus to explore for natural gas in the sea area around the island, saying some of the areas infringe on its continental shelf.
Turkey says the island’s estranged Turkish Cypriot community also has rights over any finds. Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Cyprus, instead backing the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the island.