OREANDA-NEWS. December 16, 2009. The UN Security Council on December 14 adopted resolution 1898 extending the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another six months until June 15, 2010.

The resolution reaffirms the principles for resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of the relevant UNSC resolutions. It welcomes the progress made and supports the ongoing full-scale substantive direct talks between the leaders of the Cypriot communities.

Russia, which took an active part in working out the document adopted by the Security Council, believes that the responsibility for finding a peaceful solution in Cyprus lies first and foremost with the Cypriot sides themselves. We stand for the continuation of a dynamic negotiation process on the basis of the voluntary consent of the parties and without outside pressure, without the imposition of settlement recipes, time frames or arbitration and in accordance with the well-known UNSC resolutions, in order to achieve a just, viable and comprehensive settlement in the interests of all the Cypriots, both Greeks and Turks.

We are convinced that in the conditions of the intensive direct dialogue between the leaders of the Cypriot communities the preservation of the invariable mandate of UNFICYP ensures its stabilizing role and facilitates advancing progress towards a Cyprus settlement.

Russia will continue to make every necessary effort, bilaterally and at the international level, to solve the chronic Cyprus problem.