Eastern Mediterranean

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a statement regarding the comments made by Sir Allan Duncan on Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
"'We are following developments in the Eastern Mediterranean with concern. We would like to see the situation deescalated."

A bi-partisan bill - Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 - tabled in the US Senate by Bob Menendez (Dem. - New Jersey) and Mark Rubio (Rep. - Florida) provides for the lifting of the arms embargo on Cyprus, military aid to Greece, and support for the trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Israel energy and defence cooperation.

Greece's prime minister will on Wednesday take part in a trilateral summit in Jerusalem also attended by the leaders of Cyprus and Israel, as well as the US Secretary of State.

Eastern Mediterranean countries meeting in Cairo agreed to set up a forum to create a regional gas market, cut infrastructure costs and offer competitive prices, Egypt's petroleum ministry said.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife hosted a dinner on Wednesday night for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and their spouses at his official residence in Jerusalem, ahead of a trilateral summit which will start on Thursday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on the telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin from Brussels, where he is attending a European Union summit, the government said on Thursday.

Greece's Energean said on Sunday it signed contracts to supply up to 23 billion cubic meters of natural gas to private Israeli power stations from the Tanin and Karish gas fields off the coast of Israel.

In what is seen in Athens as an effort by Ankara to push through its message that Greece has limited sovereignty in the area of the Eastern Mediterranean surrounding the island of Kastelorizo, Turkish forces have in recent days maintained a steady presence in the region, either through military exercises or with the dispatch of research vessels.