Anastasiades, Kasoulides busy on the sidelines of UN General Assembly (Updated)

President Nicos Anastasiades and Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides on Tuesday attended meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In a written statement, government spokesman Marios Pelekanos said that the president met with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic and the prime minister of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

With the Serbian president, Anastasiades discussed the current situation in Cyprus, military cooperation between the two countries, bilateral relations, as well as the European path of Serbia and the West Balkans and the developments and consequences of the war in Ukraine.

The two leaders also discussed the developments in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the need to put pressure on Kosovo to engage more constructively in the process.

During the president’s meeting with Cardinal Parolin, both parties expressed the common position for the continuous upgrading of relations between the two states, Pelekanos wrote.

The two also discussed the war in Ukraine and its consequences, as well as matters of common interest.

President Anastasiades also informed the cardinal about the situation and the latest developments in the Cyprus issue.

Foreign Minister Kasoulides, who is escorting the president in New York, was present during his meeting with the Serbian president and also had a series of separate contacts.

After attending the General Assembly, he had a meeting with his Greek and Egyptian counterparts, Nicos Dendias and Sameh Shoukry.

During the meeting, the three discussed ways of further strengthening and establishing multilateral cooperation between the three countries in a wide range of fields, with the aim of creating conditions of security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Later on, the Cypriot FM had separate meetings with his counterparts from Moldova, Nicu Popescu and Northern Macedonia Bujar Osmani, while he is also scheduled to meet with the UN High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Miguel Angel Moratinos.

The Cypriot FM will then attend a working dinner with his Greek and Egyptian counterparts.

On Wednesday he is slated to meet Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Nayef Al-Hajraf, and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.