Cyprus settlement should be based on UN Security Council resolution – Lavrov

“I won’t turn down Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s proposal to meet; there’s a lot to discuss with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and we’re ready to discuss them”, he said, APA reports.

US President Barack Obama, who took a conciliatory tone in a meeting Monday with Putin, said Tuesday he believed Moscow would soon realize that the cost of its military intervention in support of Assad outweighed the benefits.

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Wednesday he had requested to meet his Russian counterpart in Belgrade this week and was still waiting for a response, adding he does not want tension with Moscow to escalate.

“The final solution to the Cyprus problem should be based on the UN Security Council resolution provisions and accord between the two communities”, the Russian foreign minister said.

Lavrov said he spoke with his Turkish counterpart the next day after the November 24 downing of the Russian Su-24 jet.

Turkey’s worsening dispute with Russia over the downing of a Russian warplane is prompting Ankara to prepare to source vital food and energy imports elsewhere, underscoring the dispute’s potential to up-end lucrative trade ties. Russian Federation has imposed sanctions against Turkish products in retaliation for the downing.

Turkey insists the Russian plane violated its airspace despite numerous warnings and has said it will not apologise for the incident that killed a Russian pilot and a Russian marine trying to retrieve a second pilot.

Mr Lavrov said his country’s aim is to ensure that it does not allow the “overflow” of terrorist threats in Turkey from making their way into Russian Federation.