Cypriot president unskips meeting on Ukraine

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will attend an emergency meeting on Ukraine after all, with the government revising a previous statement that said the commander in chief had asked the Greek premier to speak for Cyprus at the meeting.

A presidential statement on Thursday said Anastasiades would fly out of Dubai after all on Thursday afternoon to attend an emergency European Council summit on the situation in Ukraine, revising a previous statement that he would not be attending.

Earlier in the morning Knews reported that Anastasiades, who was leading a Cypriot business delegation to the United Arab Emirates, made no comment on Ukraine but had spoken with European Council President Charles Michel and advised him that he had authorized Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to represent Cyprus at the meeting in Brussels.

But an hour later the president took to Twitter to “strongly condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.”

“Respect for borders and territorial sovereignty and integrity is a non-negotiable principle,” Anastasiades wrote.

In a previous statement deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou said Anastasiades had tasked Mitsotakis because the president was attending EXPO 2020 where he also had a speaking engagement.

The Cyprus News Agency reported that Anastasiades would be flying out of Dubai at 4pm (12 noon Brussels time) to take part in the council meeting.

“I am making every possible effort to travel to Brussels to take part in the emergency council,” the president wrote on Twitter.

Anastasiades will be accompanied by Parisinou and Undersecretary to the president Kyriacos Koushos, while other officials were also said to be scheduled to be on the flight.