Anastasiades: 'We have nothing against Russians, only their government's actions'

"As a country that has been invaded and continues to be occupied, we are obliged, as a matter of principle, to stand with the Ukrainian people and denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  This has been our position since the start of the war," Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday evening during the presentation of former House of Representatives President Yiannakis Omirou`s book.

At the same time, the President pointed out that Cyprus didn't have anything against the Russian people and that Cyprus is following a single, united policy that has been set by the EU.

"We believe that Russia has supported positions of principle on the Cyprus problem throughout the years, but its latest actions, unfortunately, violate international law", he continued

We have nothing, President Anastasiades said, against the people or the citizens of Russia, adding that "the problem is our full disagreement with the Russian government`s specific actions."

Journalists also asked the president about the exploitation of Cyprus' natural gas reserves, to which he replied, "we are continuing a policy of exploitation both of our reserves and the region`s."  He added that the EU had decided to fund the study on the feasibility of the EastMed pipeline in order to establish an alternative route to gas supply and to halt increasing dependence on one market.

To that extent, he referred to the trilateral cooperation mechanisms with Egypt, Israel and Jordan, Cyprus` excellent relations with Lebanon and Palestine and the Gulf countries, which as he put it "indicate that the Cypriot government is moving in this direction."