Britain will help Cyprus establish a National Sanctions Implementation Unit to combat illicit Russian finance flowing through Europe, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday during a state visit.
The new partnership, agreed with President Christodoulides, will enable intelligence sharing between Britain’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and Cyprus’s Ministry of Finance, introducing new analytical tools to track and disrupt sanctions evasion.
Cyprus has already frozen 1.5 billion pounds ($1.89 billion) in Russian assets since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, demonstrating its commitment to international efforts against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military campaign.
“Together with the Republic of Cyprus, we are stemming the flow of illicit finance through Europe to starve Putin’s war machine and protect global stability,” Starmer said during his visit, the first bilateral trip to Cyprus by a British premier since Edward Heath in 1971.
The collaboration extends beyond sanctions enforcement, with Britain’s National Crime Agency set to provide financial crime training to Cypriot law enforcement teams next year. The UK’s Revenue and Customs will also assist in training Cypriot customs officers to combat illicit tobacco trafficking.
Cyprus joined Britain’s Shadow Fleet initiative in July, aimed at intercepting vessels attempting to circumvent sanctions. The initiative has garnered support from 46 countries and the European Union since its announcement at the European Political Community summit.
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