President Anastasiades listens to his Ukrainian counterpart. Credit: PIO/Cyprus governmentUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Cyprus to close its ports to all Russian ships and to deny “privileges” to Russian nationals but omitted any reference to the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.
He was speaking to the Cypriot legislature via video link – part of his virtual tour of addressing national parliaments across the globe. On Thursday he also addressed the Greek parliament.
“I’m grateful to you for your moral stance. You reacted to the Russian invasion and banned the docking of Russian ships in your ports,” Zelensky said.
He added that Cyprus has “tools to pressure” its traditionally close friend Russia, and urged Cypriot authorities to “close the ports” to all Russian private yachts.
He called on the Cypriots to revoke passports issued to wealthy Russians under the citizenship for investment scheme shut down under corruption allegations in November 2020.
