Cyprus was in no way pressured to greenlight Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s participation in the upcoming informal EU Council foreign ministers meeting, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Friday.

He was referring to the informal meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on August 29, where diplomatic sources said Nicosia had given the go-ahead to have Fidan invited.

This would also pave the way for Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos to meet Fidan. No official statements have been made yet as to whether Fidan has accepted the invitation.

According to Letymbiotis, Nicosia’s approach was a strategic move and an act of good will as part of the government’s commitment to resume negotiations on the Cyprus problem, he told the state broadcaster.

He described it as proof of Cyprus’ constructive stance and it was now on Turkey to do the same.

The spokesman added that this falls within the framework of the conclusions of the Euro-Turkish negotiations, which aim to foster a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship between Brussels and Ankara, linked to progress on the Cyprus problem.

Letymbiotis specified this was an ad hoc invitation, which only concerns the next informal foreign ministers meeting on August 29.

He stressed no pressure was put on Cyprus to greenlight Fidan’s participation. Nicosia was asked to give its opinion to which it consented only for the upcoming meeting, Letymbiotis said.