President Nikos Christodoulides’ planned trip to Israel and Palestine to meet both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday has been postponed, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Tuesday.

Speaking to television channel Alpha, he said there had been “a discussion within the framework of contacts which took place in the previous days at various levels” with the aim of organising meetings between Christodoulides and both Netanyahu and Abbas.

“The date was initially set for tomorrow, Wednesday, but you understand that these programmes are not so stable; they are changeable. The visit will not take place tomorrow, after all. It will take place at a later stage. It will also take place at other levels,” he said.

He was also asked whether in diplomacy, “one needs to talk to the devil”, and stressed that “one does not have the luxury, especially for a state like ours, of not talking to different people, especially choosing your interlocutors when they are in your neighbourhood”.

This, he said, is especially true “when they are extremely important on the global international stage”.

Instead of meeting Christodoulides on Wednesday, Netanyahu will instead attend the latest hearing of a criminal trial he faces over allegations of bribery, fraud, and breaches of trust by him and close political allies.

He had initially intended to have Wednesday’s hearing cancelled due to what the defence called an “urgent diplomatic meeting” with Christodoulides, followed, according to the defence, by another, more important meeting later on Wednesday.

The nature of the second meeting, and whether it will take place, is not yet clear, but Netanyahu will appear in court after midday on Wednesday.

He has pled not guilty to all three charges.

The meeting was due to come after the State of Israel and Hamas signed an agreement for the first phase of a deal which, it is hoped, will end the conflict which broke out in the region in October 2023, based on a plan drawn up by United States President Donald Trump.

Christodoulides attended the signing ceremony and adjacent summit, describing it as a day of hope and promise for our region”.