Cyprus FM to have talks in Washington with Blinken on February 1st

Cyprus Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, will pay a visit to Washington at the invitation of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, with whom he will hold talks on February 1st, at the State Department.

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) has learned that Kasoulides will leave for the US on January 30th, and will hold meetings there on February 1st and 2nd. The program of his meetings has not been finalized yet, however, he is expected to meet, apart from Blinken, with other US administration officials and senators.

The discussions with Blinken and other officials are expected to be about the US-Cyprus bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem, Energy issues related to the Eastern Mediterranean region and other regional and international matters.

Meanwhile, Kasoulides will also have his first meeting on January 24 with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in Brussels, where the FM is scheduled to participate in a Foreign Affairs Council meeting.  Discussions with Borrel are expected to encompass the Cyprus problem and other Cyprus-related issues which are on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council.

Kasoulides referred to these forthcoming meetings during an interview he gave on Thursday evening to CyBC.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.