credit defencenet |
Quoting a report from Itar-Tass, a report on defencenet said that the US Secretary of State offered to acquire one of the island's two largest banks in the country (Laiki or Bank of Cyprus) in exchange for the granting of such "facilities" in exchange for control of Cypriot gas fields. (Report was featured on www.vesti.ru)
The US obviously wants to prevent Russia to spread its influence in Cyprus (and the wider region). Also, and in the case that Cyprus exists the Eurozone, the US also wants to make sure that the divided island does not look for other geostrategic alliances (or basically turn its back on the West).
The next 72 hours are crucial for Cyprus' future, or since the Turkish invasion of 1974, but at the same time they are also climatic for the fate of the Eurozone.