Press Releases

The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, received the credentials of the Ambassador of Ukraine Mr Ruslan Nimchynskyi, during a formal ceremony held at the Presidential Palace on Thursday, 17 December 2020.

Presenting his credentials, Mr Nimchynskyi, speaking in English, said:

“Your Excellency, Mr President,

I have the immense privilege and the great honour to present to Your Excellency the Letters of Credence by which His Excellency President of Ukraine, Mr Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appoints me as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the Letters of Recall of my predecessor, Ambassador Borys Humeniuk.

At the outset, allow me to convey to You, Mr President, the warmest regards from the President of Ukraine and his best wishes for everlasting friendship and cooperation between our nations. Since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between Ukraine and the Republic of Cyprus, our relations have grown steadily in the atmosphere of friendship, mutual support and understanding.

We very much value our partnership with the Republic of Cyprus, which is based on our shared values of democracy, freedom and respect for international law. It is my great honour to represent my country as the new Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus and I affirm my commitment to you, Mr President, to deepen and expand the scope of our cooperation, to do my outmost in advancing our dialogue to enhance the friendly ties between our two countries. I sincerely believe that our dedication to our shared values and traditions will assure the atmosphere of cordiality and respect by which our cooperation has always been guided.

Today our bilateral relationship is in excellent shape and our political dialogue is evolving despite current global challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. There are still ample opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation, and we commit to consistently develop our dialogue with the new dynamics, while preserving all the best that was accumulated over the previous decades. I believe that it is vitally important to bring our bilateral dialogue to a higher level.

Our economic and trade cooperation also offers new opportunities and I hope it could be further developed during my tenure in the Republic of Cyprus.

Ukraine has the strong commitment to strengthen the political association and economic integration with the European Union, including through continued close cooperation in the rule of law, advance reforms, foster sustainable economic growth, support the green and digital transitions and increase resilience.

The European integration is our top priority and we highly appreciate an active engagement of the Republic of Cyprus in promoting Ukraine-EU relations. It is also crucial that the objectives of peace, prosperity, freedom and the rule of law are held in common by both our nations and these objectives constitute the criteria in our efforts to find the diplomatic and peaceful solutions to the challenges which face us.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to emphasize that Ukraine highly values a clear and unbiased position of the Republic of Cyprus on the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. In a similar manner, Ukraine fully respects sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus. We welcome the negotiation process between the two communities of Cyprus under the UN auspices aimed at reunification of Cyprus on the principle of bi-zonal bi-communal federation.

I wish again to reiterate my profound gratitude for having been given the opportunity to undertake this extremely honourable and important mission. I look forward to working with the Government and the People of the Republic of Cyprus to continue to further strengthen our friendship and partnership for the prosperity of our nations”.

Receiving the credentials, the President said:

“It is with great pleasure and distinct honour that I receive today your Letters of Credence, appointing you as the new Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus. Ι wish to assure you that my Government and I personally will provide every assistance deemed necessary in the performance of your high duties.

The relations between Cyprus and Ukraine are guided by common values, our mutual adherence to the principles of peace and democracy, as well as by our joint commitment to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. I firmly believe that we also share the political will to further advance these relations to the benefit of our people. This should be done not only bilaterally, but also through building upon our joint efforts on issues where we have the same understanding in international fora.

I look forward to working closely with you with a view to further expanding the institutional framework governing our two countries’ relations. This will allow us to diversify our cooperation, tapping into the existing potential in areas of mutual interest.  In this respect, we look forward to the Intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation that is underway for next year. This will be an important step towards identifying ways for strengthening our economic ties, intensifying bilateral trade and enhancing investment opportunities for our two business communities.

Moreover, we are convinced that our bilateral relations will greatly benefit from people-to-people contacts, cultural and social exchanges, as well as tourism. In doing so, we will be building upon the contribution the Ukrainian community in Cyprus has made in knitting the bonds of friendship between our countries.  

It is also our firm belief that the advancement of the Ukrainian relations with the European Union will further facilitate our bilateral engagement. In this respect, we are eager to continue supporting EU-Ukraine related issues with a view to further deepening Ukraine’s political association and economic integration with the EU.

As regards the latest developments on the Cyprus Problem, following the recent election of the new Turkish Cypriot leader, I immediately wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General through which I once again conveyed my readiness and determination to participate the soonest possible at a new initiative he might wish to undertake, based on the understanding reached with His Excellency and the leaders of the two communities on 25 November 2019 in Berlin (the six-point framework as presented at Crans Montana, the Joint Declaration of 11 February 2014 and the convergences reached during past negotiations).

Mr Guterres immediately responded through a similar letter addressed both to myself and Mr Tatar, with which he reiterated his readiness to continue his efforts towards resuming the negotiating process on the basis of the ongoing body of work, the mutual understanding achieved in Berlin and in line, of course, with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

At a first stage, his aim is to hold an informal 5+1 Conference at an appropriate stage, so as to assess whether the necessary conditions are in place to continue negotiations from where they were left off at Crans Montana. It is within this context that Ms Lute paid a visit to Cyprus on December and immediately thereafter to Athens.

In parallel to the above-mentioned, it is worth highlighting that, following my own initiative, on 3 November an informal meeting took place with Mr Tatar, during which we had the opportunity to hold an informal exchange of views on our vision for Cyprus and the prospect of resuming the process.

All these said, on our part and me personally, we hold the strong opinion that it would be essential to hold this informal Conference, for all sides, in the presence of the UN Secretary General, to finally clarify their views and objectives as regards:

(a)  The basis for the resumption of the process;

(b)  The climate which should underpin the resumption of the process;

(c)  The envisioned form of the settlement.

Nonetheless, it is highly disheartening when, at the very moment that the UN Secretary General informed of his readiness to prepare the ground for re-launching the negotiating process, Turkey responds with illegal and provocative actions either by the drilling operations within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus or with the opening of the fenced area of Varosha in clear violation of international law and the UN Security Council Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992), which call for the return and resettlement of the area by its rightful and lawful inhabitants.

I do realise that you continue to keep the situation in Varosha under close watch, with the most recent episode being on 15 November, with the illegal visit of Mr Erdogan, accompanied by a large number of members of his cabinet and his government partner, the leader of the Nationalist Party in Turkey, in a, yet again, blatant disregard of the calls by the international community, the EU and the UN for Turkey to reverse its actions.

And I wish to be absolutely clear on this matter: As it is understandable, fully-fledged negotiations should be conducted on an equal-footing and nor under conditions of intimidation and threats, in accordance with international law and the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

In this respect, it would be impossible by anyone to expect that these conditions are fulfilled if any of the sides advocate solutions outside the UN established parameters or if Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side proceed with their plans for the full opening of the fenced area of Varosha, either under Turkish military control or Turkish Cypriot administration, or continue with the violation of our sovereign rights in our Exclusive Economic Zone.

That is why I once again urge your Government to exert every effort so as for Turkey to alter its intransigent stance, reverse its unilateral and provocative actions and work for the easing of tensions in a consistent and sustained manner so as to establish a climate that is conducive to facilitating the resumption of the process. Only then we will have realistic prospects for success.

For us, our path forward is clear: Both the current unacceptable status quo – with the ongoing illegal occupation of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus following the Turkish military invasion and the violent displacement of 40% of our people – and any ideas that deviate from the established UN parameters, are neither viable nor sustainable.

Our vision and top priority remains none other than to reunify our island on the agreed basis of a bizonal and bicommunal federation as provided by UN Security Council Resolutions, in order to establish a truly independent and sovereign state, free from foreign dependencies, guarantees, the right of military intervention or the presence of foreign troops.

Before concluding, I would be amiss if I did not take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation for Ukraine’s steadfast support and principled position with regard to the Cyprus issue. We are also grateful for your country’s support in relation to Turkey’s continued illegal drilling operations in the maritime zones of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as its escalating provocations on the ground, in particular the opening of the fenced area of Varosha.

In closing and welcoming you once again to Cyprus, I would kindly request you to convey to His Excellency the President of Ukraine my warmest greetings and to the people of your country a message of sincere friendship. I conclude, by assuring you once more of the support of my Government to your noble mission, so that your tenure will be highly constructive and fruitful, and carried out in such a way that the sound relationship that Cyprus enjoys with Ukraine will further flourish”.

(EK/SCH)