There has never been, and indeed there is no question of Russian air or naval military bases on the soil of Cyprus, said Foreign Minister Ioannis Kassoulides, on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council, in Brussels.
“Besides, there has never been any request from Russia about this”, the Minister told CNA, replying to questions.
Kassoulides clarified that “what President Nicos Anastasiades referred to, in a recent interview, was the renewal of a military cooperation agreement with Russia consisting of maintenance of military equipment sold to Cyprus years ago, as well as the purchase of spare parts according to existing contracts.”
As regards the offering of facilities, he explained, “these are of a purely non-military nature, they relate to humanitarian nature matters such as the evacuation of Russian civilians from the Middle East if the need arises”.