President Nikos Christodoulides and Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday held a telephone conversation focused on the ongoing developments in Syria after the overthrow of the country’s Assad regime.

Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the pair spoke about “the role that the two countries play as factors of stability and peace in the region”, as well as “actions that the two countries could take jointly in relation to the proper management of the unfolding situation in Syria and in the region”.

He said they had also discussed the “possible implications of the current situation” on both neighbouring countries and the European Union, in light of a meeting of the Arab ministerial contact group in the Jordanian Red Sea city of Aqaba earlier in the week and the forthcoming European Council summit.

The Arab ministerial contact group consists of Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab League’s secretary-general Ahmet Aboul Gheit.

They met with representatives from Bahrain, France, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations special envoy in Syria Geir Pedersen in Aqaba.

The meetings’ participants released a statement in which they said they “affirmed the full support to the Syrian people at this critical point in their history to build a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future,” and said they “believe the transitional political process must be Syrian-led and Syrian-owned”.

They also affirmed their “full support for Syria’s unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty”, and “stressed on the respect for human rights, including for women and minorities”.