![Cyprus' Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides (R) meets with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan in the capital Nicosia on October 1, 2020 [ETIENNE TORBEY/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/UAE-Cyprus.jpg?fit=920%2C624&ssl=1)
The United Arab Emirates and Cyprus yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen mutual cooperation on the military and defence levels.
UAE Minister of State for Defence, Mohammed Al-Bawardi, said in a statement that the agreement was signed in a “virtual meeting” with his Cyprus counterpart, Charalambos Petrides. “The agreement affirms the depth of our strategic relations with Cyrus,” Al-Bawardi was quoted by the official WAM as saying.
On his part, Petrides said that the MoU was a result of a “fruition of excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and our like-mindedness on an array of international and regional issues.”
“We consider this MoU as a step towards developing a long term, sustained and robust defence partnership between Cyprus and the UAE,” he said on Twitter.