In the first official visit to Cyprus by a British Prime Minister in 53 years, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and the UK Prime Minister, Kir Starmer, today discussed the intention to strengthen bilateral relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom, at the start of their private meeting at the Presidential Palace, ahead of expanded talks between delegations from the two countries.

At 08:45, Mr Christodoulides received Mr Starmer, who is making the first official visit of a British Prime Minister to Cyprus in 53 years.

At the beginning of their private conversation, Christodoulides, addressing the British Prime Minister, welcomed him and said that this was indeed a historic visit, 53 years after the last visit of a British Prime Minister for a bilateral meeting.

He also continued, “Our meeting comes two months after our meeting in Downing Street and this is a clear demonstration of our strong political will to work together to advance our bilateral relations from defence, security, investment, trade, education, technology, at all levels.”

He added that the British Prime Minister is visiting Cyprus at a time “when we have important developments in our region. We will exchange views and see how we can work together to create conditions of stability and security. Of course, we will discuss EU-UK relations, but also the second (Cypriot) presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026.”

Christodoulides added that the Cyprus problem will also be discussed, noting that the UK is a guarantor of the UN Security Council resolutions “and you have a special role to play in the resumption of talks and the resolution of the Cyprus problem by the UN Security Council resolutions.”

For his part, addressing the Cypriot President, Starmer said “it is a real privilege to be here and I am so pleased that after our meeting in London in October, we were able to organise this historic meeting so quickly (in Cyprus).”

“Please take this as a statement of my intention that the already strong partnership between our countries is historically strong because of the people-to-people ties we have had for many years,” Prime Minister Starmer said, adding that “common interests can reach an even stronger level between us, whether it is the global issues we face together, whether it is trade and investment, energy, health, the EU. There are so many issues on which our countries already work so closely together.”

He also noted that there are many things that need to be discussed, reiterating that “I feel privileged to be the first Prime Minister in some time to sit here and have the opportunity to have these discussions with you and take them to another level. I very much look forward to renewing and strengthening the ties between our two countries.”

Following the private meeting, President Christodoulides and Prime Minister Starmer will participate in the extended consultations between delegations of the two countries before the British Prime Minister departs from the Presidential Palace, concluding his working visit to Cyprus.