Moscow hopes that UN plan for Cyprus will work

Moscow hopes that the Cyprus problem will be tackled within the framework of the UN decisions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Tuesday in Moscow.

"We are ready to discuss in every detail the situation obtaining around the Cyprus settlement," Lavrov said at the meeting with foreign minister of the Republic of Cyprus Georgios Iacovou.

"We want this process to proceed strictly within the framework of the UN decisions," added the Russian minister.

On April 24 a referendum on the peace plan proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is to be held on Cyprus. In case the two Cyprus communities - the Greek and the Turkish - reject the plan of the island's unification, only the Republic of Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1 and the residents of the island's northern territories occupied by Turkey in 1974 will remain outside the European Union.

Moscow hopes that Cyprus' joining the EU will not have a negative impact on its bilateral ties with Russia.

"I hope that no obstacles for our economic cooperation in tourism and other spheres will crop up," Lavrov added.