Greece saves Cyprus talks from collapse as USA urges for solution

American Vice President Mike Pence urged both Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders to reach agreement on the Cyprus issue during the current talks in Switzerland.

Pence spoke by phone to Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and urged for a ‘historic settlement’’. Anastasiades briefed Pence on the developments in Crans-Montana and the proposals he submitted to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and also asked Pence to ask U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Cyprus issue with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the G20 meeting.

The US Vice President asked Anastasiades to convey to the Conference the US support for the effort to solve the Cyprus problem, noting that the country is monitoring developments closely.

Meanwhile Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has come out swinging suggesting that the Greek delegation three times saved the ongoing Cyprus negotiations from collapse.

“We have done all we could in this negotiation. We saved it three times from collapse. But this negotiation must be based on the rights of people, states and international law,” said Kotzias

“We are in a difficult negotiation. The Greek side has defended the Law, International Law, it has defended the right of Cyprus to be a sovereign and independent state,” he continued, adding that negotiations will continue tonight in a meeting between the heads of the delegations and a dinner with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.