Britain will provide intel to Cyprus to help fight Russia’s sanctions evasion

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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Britain will provide intelligence to a newly formed unit in Cyprus tasked with preventing Russia evade international sanctions, according to an agreement Tuesday following talks between visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Cypriot counterpart.

Starmer met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in what was the first visit in 53 years by a U.K. prime minister to the former British colony.

A statement later said that Britain’s offices dealing with sanctions will share information with the Cypriot Ministry of Finance “to disrupt and intercept the flow of illicit finance through Europe to ensure the effectiveness of sanctions on (Vladimir) Putin’s war machine.”

The Cyprus’ unit will probe Russia’s sanctions evasion and track funds being moved across Europe, according to the statement.

The agreement comes a day after Cyprus and the United States announced they are doubling down on efforts to combat illicit finance with additional training of Cypriot law enforcement authorities to identify, investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

Separately, the United Kingdom will also help train Cypriot law enforcement teams next year on financial crimes, specifically customs offers on investigating and prosecuting cases of illicit tobacco smuggling to Britain.

Cyprus has frozen $1.9 billion in Russian assets since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Cypriot government has also joined a U.K.-led initiative to intercept ships used in circumventing sanctions.

Britain maintains two military bases in Cyprus that include a key electronic surveillance facility for the Middle East.