President Nicos Anastasiades and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet within the second half of the year to push ahead with energy-related joint initiatives.
The meeting, the exact date of which will be announced soon, followed a long telephone conversation on Tuesday evening between the two leaders at the initiative of Anastasiades.
“New initiatives between the neigbouring countries focusing on the lucrative energy sector will be on the agenda of the meeting,” insiders told daily Phileleftheros.
Moreover, Nicosia will act as a bridge of solid cooperation between Tel Aviv and the European Union, added one.
At the same time, Netanyahu has assured the President that the recent warming up of relations between his country and Turkey will not affect those with Cyprus.
Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz said in a recent interview that Turkey wants to consume half of the quantity of gas in the Leviathan gas reservoir, starting in 2020.
And that in the secondary stage, gas may be transported from Turkey to the rest of Europe.
Israel alone does not have the capacity to sell gas to Europe via subsea pipelines, he also said.
In other words, the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline can only be built if the pipeline carries gas from both Israel and Cyprus.
However, Cyprus is still divided since a 1974 Turkish invasion. UN-brokered reunification talks are now at a very crucial stage.
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