NICOSIA, March 28. /TASS/. Cyprus will never send its troops to Ukraine, though it remains open to participating in a multinational peacekeeping force for humanitarian missions, said Cypriot deputy government spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou.
He was talking in the wake of Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides’ participation in the meeting of the "coalition of the willing" called by France.
According to Antonio, Christodoulides said Cyprus is willing to contribute to the creation of a UN-mandated force to monitor security in Ukraine after a peace deal is signed, similar to the one inked before the deployment of the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel. Antoniou added that Cyprus can provide assistance at the administrative and auxiliary levels in humanitarian missions involving members of the National Guard and the police. "And, of course, under no circumstances does the Republic of Cyprus intend to provide troops," he said.
At the end of the Paris summit, Christodoulides noted that any European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine could not operate under NATO, as Russia would categorically reject such a presence. This is why the "coalition of the willing," according to Christodoulides, should try to obtain a mandate from the UN Security Council for their peacekeeping contingent.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after the summit that it was premature to discuss sending foreign military personnel to Ukraine. According to him, although this topic was in the air, it was not on the discussion table.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the participants of the Paris summit believe that the time has not yet come to lift sanctions from Russia.
Comment by the Russian ambassador to Cyprus
Russia’s ambassador Murat Zyazikov confirmed in an interview with TASS that Russia would never accept any NATO-linked forces near its borders. "Russia will never agree to the appearance of NATO 'peacekeepers' on Ukrainian territory," he said.
Zyazikov also commented on the results of the Paris summit. "The West's attempts to maintain a tough sanctions regime against Russia have already boomeranged on them, causing enormous damage to the very initiators of these illegal restrictive measures. Economic difficulties, rising prices and worsening social tensions in the EU countries are a direct consequence of this thoughtless policy," stated Zyazikov.
He added that at a time when there are already calls for compromises within the Euro-Atlantic community, the idea of continuing to demonize Russia and further increase sanctions pressure is absurd, useless and destructive.
"As our national leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized, Russia is ready to cooperate with Europe, but it will no longer make the mistake of placing excessive trust in it. The moment has come for the West to admit the obvious: the extension of illegal restrictions is counterproductive. The sooner the sanctions are lifted, the sooner the world will return to a normal state of affairs and stability," Zyazikov said.