NICOSIA (Reuters) -Britain and Cyprus pledged on Tuesday to fight illicit Russian cash flows during a visit by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in an endorsement of the pro-west tilt the Mediterranean island has taken since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A former British colony, Cyprus has worked hard to shake off a reputation as a haven for Russian businesses and light-touch regulation, aligning with the West over Russia and the growing turmoil in the Middle East.
Britain is providing know-how in helping Cyprus establish a new national sanctions implementation unit, and will launch education programmes for law enforcement teams next year, Downing Street said.
"Together with the Republic of Cyprus, we are stemming the flow of illicit finance through Europe to starve (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war machine and protect global stability," Starmer said in a statement.
Starmer, on a multi-day visit to the Middle East, was in Cyprus on Tuesday, the first visit of a British prime minister to the former colony since Edward Heath in 1971.
Britain has deep ties with Cyprus and still plays a role in Cypriot affairs as one of three guarantor powers of Cypriot independence, along with Turkey and Greece. It still has two military bases on the island.
Starmer visited service personnel and families at RAF Akrotiri, a British military base on the southern coast.
Tuesday's visit drew criticism from breakaway North Cyprus, a statelet recognised only by Ankara, for ignoring the Turkish Cypriots as the other main party in the Cyprus conflict.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas and Muvija M, Editing by Bernadette Baum)
