NICOSIA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from Russia's Foreign Ministry will visit Cyprus for "political consultations" a few days after Moscow expressed concern over a possible buildup of U.S. military presence in the eastern Mediterranean island, Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported on Friday.
It said that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, who is in charge of Russia's relations with the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will lead a delegation which will arrive in Cyprus on Dec. 14.
However, the agency said the visit had been arranged some time ago and before the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova claimed that a U.S. delegation had visited Cyprus to spot areas suitable for bases and warned that Moscow would take response measures in case of implementation of militarization plans.
Cyprus News Agency said Grurshko will meet with his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Christodoulides to discuss about a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
It added that the meeting will be most probably be held next month in Moscow.
Christodoulides said that he spoke with Lavrov on Wednesday, adding that they agreed to meet in the "coming months".
CNA said the delegations of the foreign ministries of Russia and Cyprus will hold consultations on bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem, regional and international issues as well as EU-Russia relations.
Following Zakharova's statement, the Cyprus government has made it clear that it does not seek the island's militarization and that it provides facilities to any country which asks to use them for humanitarian operations.
