Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Cypriot counterpart on military co-operation between Cyprus and Russia; and if he will make a statement.

The UK has a strong relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, including a security and defence and we have regular discussions at official level. I met the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, Ioannis Kasoulides, 2 weeks ago and we discussed the issue of the Republic of Cyprus’ military agreements with Russia, alongside a number of areas of bilateral interest. It is our understanding that the military aspects of those agreements formalise arrangements already in place. We will continue to discuss security and defence matters with the Republic of Cyprus.