President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides arrived on Wednesday afternoon at the White House for a meeting with US President Joe Biden. This is the first visit by a President of Cyprus to the White House since 1996.
President Christodoulides arrived at 11.45 local time (15.45 GMT) and was received by the White House Chief of Protocol.
He is accompanied in the US by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, the Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the Deputy Minister of European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, the Director of his diplomatic office Doros Venezis, the Ambassador of Cyprus to the US Evangelos Savva, among others.
On the US side, the bilateral meeting will be attended by US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, White House Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and European Affairs Adviser John Carpenter.
The two sides will discuss, among other topics, the deepening of bilateral relations, the security situation in the Middle East, energy security and cooperation, an
d the Cyprus issue.
As announced by the White House, President Biden is expected to reiterate US support for a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality in Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency