SG/SM/6035

SECRETARY-GENERAL AND RUSSIA'S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSS CYPRUS AND AFGHANISTAN

The following statement was issued today by a spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General met with Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the latter's request.

On the situation in Cyprus, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation noted that the Secretary-General's views on the issue were shared by all Permanent Members of the Security Council. The Secretary-General and the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation agreed on the necessity to encourage the parties to undertake effective steps in close coordination with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Cyprus and the Force Commander of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) to ensure the regime of the buffer zone on the island, established by Security Council resolutions. The Secretary-General and the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation favoured the restoration of proximity talks between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus through the mediation of the new Special Representative.

The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation also expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the United Nations Secretariat for the steps taken towards the freeing of the Russian airmen detained by the Afghan Taliban movement. The Russian pilots broke free on 16 August after months of detention in Qandahar. The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation reiterated his country's readiness to participate in a most energetic manner in efforts to conduct a dialogue with a broad spectrum of Afghanistan's political forces to promote national reconciliation in that country.

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United Nations