Russia supports BBF, reform of guarantees system, official says

Russia said Thursday it supported the internationally acknowledged basis for a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution in Cyprus and reform of the guarantees system, one of the most thorny issues of the problem.

During a press briefing on Thursday at the UN headquarters, first deputy permanent representative, Dmitry Polyanskiy, “we stick to the internationally acknowledged and UNSC-supported basis for the settlement in Cyprus with the bicommunal, bizonal federation. There is no shift in our policy. We are closely following the development of the situation.”

Polyanskiy’s comments came after talks on Cyprus in Geneva ended without ant result, as the Turkish side insisted on a two-state solution.

“There seems to be no solution in sight for the time being, which is very deplorable,” the Russian official said, as he reiterated his country’s support for the treaty of guarantors to be scrapped.

On “several occasions we said that maybe we should think about reforming this system of guarantors because sometimes they become part of the problem, not part of the solution. That was our assessment, we do not hide it. Maybe the solution lies there, but it’s up to the sides to decide what they want.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday at the end of the 5+1 informal meeting in Geneva on Cyprus that he will not give up and announced another meeting in two to three months from, again with the objective to move in the direction of reaching common ground.

The issue of guarantees is one of the most intractable chapters of the negotiations.

With the Treaty of Guarantee, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom undertook to guarantee the independence, territorial integrity and the constitutional order of the Republic of Cyprus and to prohibit any activity aimed at promoting the union of Cyprus with other states or partition of the island.

The treaty was used by Turkey as a pretext to invade the island, ostensibly to protect the Turkish Cypriots.

Unlike current Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, his predecessor, Mustafa Akinci embraced a more flexible position saying that a new model that makes both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots feel safe and secure must be developed.