The informal five-party meeting in Geneva at the end of April is “a crucial step towards the resumption of formal negotiations on the Cyprus issue,” said US Ambassador Judith Garber, urging the parties to get seriously involved in the conference and find common ground. the chance.
As reported by the Occupied Territories, in an interview with the Turkish news agency, Ms. Garber said that the United States continues to support the finding of a just and viable solution, a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in Cyprus, in the context of UN resolutions. He did not want to predict the possibility of a compromise between the parties in the informal pentagon, in a solution model different from the Security Council resolutions.
The important thing for the USA, he added, is the process for the Cyprus issue to remain under the auspices of the UN and on the basis of the SA resolutions and to be Cypriot-owned,
The Ambassador stated that the USA is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, allies with all the guarantor forces and the parties in Cyprus, are very interested in the solution of the Cyprus problem and expressed the wish at the informal 5 + UN summit to find a common ground.
Judith Garber said that the solution to the Cyprus problem is important for stability and prosperity in the eastern Mediterranean region and that the US believes that the natural gas of Cyprus should be distributed fairly among the communities. The eastern Mediterranean, he added, is going through a very sensitive period and called for avoiding provocative actions that could escalate tensions.
Asked if the Cyprus issue is among the priorities of the Joe Biden administration, the US Ambassador said that the Eastern Mediterranean region continues to be a region of great importance to the United States. “In this approach to the eastern Mediterranean, there is continuity between the old and the new administration. “We are really trying to help the stability and prosperity of the region in the eastern Mediterranean.”
Asked what the US position would be in the event of an agreement to negotiate a new solution model, he recalled that reference had been made to a “loose federation”, “two states” and Guterres' statement that he was open to new ideas. The United States has said in Cyprus that it believes the idea of an informal pentagon was one that was conceived to put the parties' vision, concerns and views together, with the UN playing a supporting role in seeing if a common ground can be found. “I will not make any predictions as to whether a common ground will be found in this meeting. However, I believe that if there are differences from the Security Council resolutions, it will be transferred to the UN Security Council. “
Commenting that negotiations on the Cyprus issue have been going on for more than 50 years, but there was no result in the question of what steps should be taken from now on in order to make progress towards the federation, Ms. Garber replied that “the important is to restart the negotiations because if you are not in a real negotiation process, you can not record any progress for the solution. We see the 5 + UN meeting at the end of April as a crucial step in this direction. We are all looking forward to this meeting with hope. “
Asked to comment on the change in the T / C side's policy towards a “two-state” solution model and how the T / Cs were disappointed after the Annan plan, Judith Garner said: “I think the important thing is to look ahead. “Therefore, we hope that both sides will take this opportunity seriously and present their own visions of what they believe could be progress and goodwill.”
Asked about the partial lifting of the US arms embargo on Cyprus after 33 years and whether this was a right or wrong decision, the US Ambassador said that “there was no arms embargo. “There were some trade defense restrictions on the island.” He explained that this is legislation that was passed by the US Congress in December.
This legislation removes restrictions on the defense trade and authorized the Foreign Minister to approve the progress made by the Republic of Cyprus, as he said, in the fight against money laundering and the measures taken to deny the mooring of Russian ships in Cypriot ports. This, he added, was done by the then Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo and he proceeded to partially lift the restrictions regarding the possibility of direct sale of “non-lethal weapons”. “What do we mean by that?” We are talking about bulletproof vests, sea awareness equipment, maybe even uniforms. “It is important to understand what the decisions are about because when we talk about equipment, we can not say that it encourages the militarization of the island.”
It is clarified that the interview was given at the offices held by the US Embassy in occupied Nicosia.
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