NICOSIA, December 2. /TASS/. The Cyprus problem settlement should be based on the corresponding UN Security Council resolution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides.

"The final solution to the Cyprus problem should be based on the UN Security Council resolution provisions and accord between the two communities," the Russian foreign minister said. "Attempts to impose settlement schemes from the outside had been taken in the past and resulted in nothing good. The UN Security Council will monitor the process, encourage the sides to reach agreement and will play a role in formalising the final settlement."

Ahead of Lavrov’s visit to Cyprus, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow "supports efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and viable solution to the Cyprus question on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council".

She said that the Russian side had offered Mustafa Akinci, the leader of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the "green line" during the latter’s visit to Cyprus on December 1-2. "We offered a compromise option of meeting Lavrov on the ‘green line’ to the leader of Cypriot Turks. The proposal would have taken account of the interests of both communities residing on the island but it was turned down," she explained.

"Akinci insisted on holding the meeting in his residence in northern Cyprus. But such a meeting could have been interpreted as an element of official recognition by Russia of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," Zakharova said adding that it could have damaged Russia’s fundamental stance on the Cyprus settlement.

The Russian diplomat said that Russia continued supporting a comprehensive, fair and viable settlement to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus. "We will continue seeking a solution that will be agreed by the island’s communities and reached in the interests of all people of Cyprus," Zakharova said.