Government spokesman of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides said that Russia recognizes that sanctions imposed by European Union would be stricter without the intervention of some member states, including Cyprus, but he admitted that it would be very difficult to exclude either Cyprus or any other country from Russian embargo, because these address to specific products.

Cyprus exports to Russia mainly citrus fruits and fish of about 11 million euros value.

However, the spokesman said that Cyprus discusses with Russia in order to see how these measures are to be put into practice and maybe a way to exclude Cyprus might be found in this context. He also noted that Cyprus believe that sanctions do not solve problems, but only diplomatic dialogue can provide a solution to the problem.

The issue of Russian sanctions was discussed between officials of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who are in Cyprus, and the officials of the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but with no specific results.