President Nikos Christodoulides has said he would apply for Nato membership right away if he knew he would get a positive answer, but in the meantime preparations are being made so that Cyprus can apply when the time is right.

He made the comment in an Huffpost Greece interview with Emi Livaniou and Terence Quick taken in Limassol last week on the sidelines of the Maritime Cyprus 2025 conference, but it was only uploaded on Wednesday.

The interview also covered in depth the latest twists and turns in the row between Greece and Cyprus over the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) which aims to link the electricity grids of Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

Livaniou told the president he had made a “harsh” and “awkward” statement about Greece’s independent transmission system operator Admie that Cyprus would not be blackmailed by anyone, given that 51 per cent of the contract belonged to Greece.

“I made the statement because of some actions that deviated from the framework of the understanding we had with the Greek prime minister recently in New York [on the sidelines of the UN general assembly] and in Copenhagen during the EU informal council,” he said.

Christodoulides assured that “the relationship between Athens and Nicosia, my relationship with the Greek prime minister, are stronger than ever.”

The president referred to possible “technocratic differences regarding the project, which is of strategic importance, which the Republic of Cyprus […] wishes to be implemented”.

“There are some technocratic, technical details that the independent authorities are responsible to solve and from thereon there is absolutely no crisis,” he added.

Asked by Quick if the GSI would go ahead, Christodoulides said: “Of course the cable will happen and of course we are working in this direction.”

Greece and Cyprus both want this interconnector to happen, he added.

Regarding Turkey’s interventions, Christodoulides said neither Cyprus nor Greece would accept “the irrational questioning on behalf of Turkey that is outside international law”.

To a comment by Livaniou that Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou had said that the project was viable and EU funding was proof of this, Christodoulides said the viability of the project depended on “how fast we are moving in the direction of its implementation”.

He also stressed that there was no delay in paying the amount of €25 million Cyprus was due to contribute and that his statement about “blackmail” had to do with the feeling that the agreement between himself and Kyriakos Mitsotakis was being brought into question.

Referring to the Cyprus problem and his latest meeting in New York with the UN chief, he said things were not as far ahead as he would have liked.

“Are we where we want to be? No, we are not. But these first important steps give rise to hope. They leave a window open in this persistent effort to achieve the aim of resuming negotiations,” he added.

Christodoulides did however insist that Antonio Guterres had said the aim was to “resume negotiations from where they left off at Crans-Montana”.

Quick said doubt had been expressed as to whether Guterres had actually said this, to which Christodoulides said he was not alone at the meeting.

“Fortunately, there were six of us – three from the Greek Cypriot side and three from the Turkish Cypriot side – as well as the UN secretary-general,” he pointed out.

To a remark that Turkey came away from the Oval Office triumphant, Christodoulides said US President Donald Trump had told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he was violating Russian sanctions. “Indeed, he is,” Christodoulides pointed out.

“I can also convey the dislike of Europe for the fact that the European and international sanctions against Russia are being violated. This was said publicly by Mr Trump,” Christodoulides said, adding that Turkey gained nothing substantive from its talks in New York.

Christodoulides said Trump was vague regarding the F-35 fighter jets Turkey wanted, “so I don’t see how Turkey is winning”.

Referring to shipping, as the interview coincided with the maritime conference, Christodoulides said the Cyprus flag was very important, as was the Cyprus shipping registry, which helped the economy in many ways.

“One of the goals we have set is to develop all relevant services,” Christodoulides said, adding that he was satisfied with the results of the recent years.