BEIRUT (Xinhua) — Cyprus announced Wednesday the donation of more than 15 million euros (18.55 million U.S. dollars) in aid to the Lebanese army. Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis announced the donation following the meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil at the Boustros Palace in Beirut, the Daily Star reported on its website. “We participated in Rome II and decided to support Lebanon via military equipment to the Lebanese army, worth over 15 million euros,” Christodoulidis said following the meeting. For his part, Bassil said that Lebanon will begin exporting snails to Cyprus. “The Cypriot foreign minister informed us that the export of Lebanese snails to Cyprus has been permitted,” Bassil said.

by IBNA Newsroom  — In Beirut, the foreign minister had talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil. The two ministers reviewed the whole range of bilateral relations between Cyprus and Lebanon. In particular, they discussed the cooperation between the two countries in the political, military and economic fields. The focus was also on EU – Lebanon cooperation, the Cyprus issue and the current regional developments, as well as the plans for convening a Trilateral Meeting between Cyprus, Greece and Lebanon. The minister of foreign affairs of Lebanon gave a working lunch in honour of his Cypriot counterpart. Christodoulides was received in the afternoon by the prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri. The two men discussed bilateral relations between Cyprus and Lebanon, EU-Lebanon relations, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as the participation of Cyprus in the forthcoming Paris and Brussels conferences, to strengthen Lebanon and its infrastructures, as well as to address the refugee issue. Moreover, in the morning, Christodoulides attended a working breakfast to the accredited Ambassadors in the Republic of Cyprus, based in Beirut (Algeria, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Uruguay and Pakistan), with whom he discussed regional and bilateral issues and issues of special interest to these countries. During the meeting the FM briefed his interlocutors on the latest developments in the Cyprus issue. In the context of his visit to Lebanon, Christodoulides also had a meeting with Beirut Metropolitan Elias Audi, while he was guided at the “Beirut, City of Coexistence” exhibition, of the well-known Cypriot-Lebanese artists Lena and Hilda Kelekian. The Foreign Minister returns to Cyprus this evening./IBNA