President Nikos Christodoulides met a “close ally” of United States President-elect Donald Trump before his visit to the White House to meet incumbent Joe Biden, he claimed on Friday.

In an interview with public broadcaster CyBC, Christodoulides said he had met the as-yet-unnamed Trump ally in Nicosia on the eve of his visit to Washington, which took place just six days before the election.

Additionally, it was claimed in newspaper Phileleftheros that Cyprus’ government had been in contact with Trump’s team before the election, “maintaining two channels of communication” with the United States – one with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and one with Trump – given the coming election.

The newspaper also pointed out that it was during Trump’s first term as president that relations between Cyprus and the US began to improve and cited the visits of then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Cyprus in 2020 as evidence.

Christodoulides had been largely front and centre during those visits, saying ahead of the first that it would be “important and meaningful”, and that it would allow Cyprus and the US to “further enhance bilateral cooperation”.

Christodoulides had offered his congratulations to Trump on Wednesday after it became clear he had won the previous day’s election, saying he looks forward to “continue working on expanding and reinforcing the strategic partnership between Cyprus and the US and advancing our transatlantic relationship”.

These comments came after he had earlier expressed fears last week that the US may “step back” from its role in the international community after the election.

“There is always a fear that you could have an America stepping back, a kind of seclusion and isolation. We have seen it in the past,” he said after the White House meeting.

Referring to the ongoing crises in the Middle East, which have spread to Lebanon, just 168 kilometres from Cyprus at its closest point, he said, “that is the main concern, because the region is in turmoil right now. It is extremely dangerous.”

“In a way, there is a vacuum. You do not know in two months what is going to happen. It is a very fragile situation,” he said.

During his meeting with Biden, Christodoulides had said relations between Cyprus and the US are now at a “historical high”, while also highlighting the two countries’ close cooperation on the matters of “defence and security, energy, law enforcement, technology and innovation”.