NICOSIA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A crisis that soured traditionally good relations between Russian and Cyprus is over, Russian and Cypriot officials said on Monday.
Russian Ambassador to Cyprus Stanislav Osadchiy told reporters after he met the mayor of port city Limassol that the relations between the two countries "are at a good level and continue to develop further".
"The crisis comes and goes", he commented when being asked whether last week's crisis is over.
His statements were echoed by Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou who said that Russian-Cypriot relations are not in a crisis state.
"Indeed, they are at a very good stage and margins are constantly being sought for their improvement", he added.
According to TASS news agency, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said last week that the information coming from different sources showed Washington's active actions to expand its military presence in Cyprus so as to counter "the growing Russian influence in the region."
She warned that the further militarization of Cyprus and "its involvement in the implementation of American and NATO plans will inevitably lead to dangerous and destabilizing consequences for Cyprus itself."
"We will have to take response measures in case of their implementation," she added.
When invited to comment on the statement, Osadchiy said that "what Zakharova said mainly concerns America, not Cyprus."
Following Zakharova's statement, the Cyprus government has made it clear that it does not seek the island's militarization and that it provides facilities to any country which asks to use them for humanitarian operations.
