US Undersecretary of State to visit Cyprus this week (update)

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland will visit Turkey, Greece and Cyprus in the coming days.

According to a State Department release, she has already started her European trip in France and will also visit Germany.

During her visit to Cyprus, Ms. Nuland will inaugurate the Cyprus Training Center for Land and Maritime Safety and Port Security CyCLOPS, established and already operating in Larnaca, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 6.  She will be accompanied by FM Ioannis Kasoulides.  Both are expected to make statements to the Press after their official talks.

The Under Secretary of State will meet with the President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiadis on Thursday morning at the Presidential Palace.  During the meeting, the President is expected to review his proposal on Confidence Building Measures and point out to the undersecretary the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to resume negotiations in resolving the Cyprus issue. 

Ms. Nuland is expected to make statements to the press after the meeting.

According to the press release issued by the US State Department:

Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland will travel April 2-9 to France, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Germany to further strengthen our bilateral relationships, emphasize our unified support for Ukraine, and coordinate our response to the Russian Federation’s unprovoked war. In France, Under Secretary Nuland will meet with her French, German, and UK counterparts. She will then lead an interagency delegation to Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus, to engage with government officials and civil society for discussions on regional security, economic issues, and bilateral priorities. In Germany, Under Secretary Nuland will meet with her G7 counterparts to discuss a full range of global issues and how to build back better from the pandemic.

Other senior members of the interagency delegation are Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Ilan Goldenberg and Deputy Assistant Secretary Erika Olson. Deputy Assistant Secretaries Karen Sasahara and Jennifer Gavito will accompany the delegation to Turkey.

Ms. Nuland will arrive in Cyprus on Wednesday.  She will later be accompanied by Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidis in the early afternoon on her visit to the square next to the Medieval Castle in Larnaca where a sculpture entitled "Ankara - Heart" is located.  The sculpture was donated by the city of Odessa.  Ms. Nuland, Mr. Kasoulides and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Cyprus, Ruslan Nimchynskyi, will make statements at the site.