Energy Minister Michael Damianos will represent Cyprus at Tuesday’s meeting of the ‘Coalition of the willing’ – a group of over 30 countries which have pledged support for Ukraine – in Paris.

The meeting has been convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and will take place at the Elysee Palace, with the group including 24 European Union member states – all except Hungary, Malta and Slovakia – as well as Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Alongside Damianos and Macron, other high-profile figures who have confirmed their attendance at Tuesday’s meeting include European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, European Council president Antonio Costa, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The meeting comes after President Nikos Christodoulides held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week, with Zelenskiy highlighting the “importance” of the fact that “Ukraine is among the key priorities” for Cyprus as it undertakes the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency for the first half of the year.

“Ukraine’s membership in the European Union is one of the security guarantees for us, and for our part we are always doing everything necessary,” he said.

He added that he had shared with Christodoulides “the details of our contacts with American partners and the overall diplomatic situation”, and that “the work to achieve peace is practically around the clock”.

“I thank Cyprus and the entire Cypriot people for their support. I thank the president for such warm words about Ukrainians and Ukraine,” he said.

Christodoulides, meanwhile, said that he and Zelenskiy had “discussed the latest developments in the efforts for a lasting and viable peace”.

“We also discussed the roadmap we set out for Ukraine during the Cyprus presidency. Supporting Ukraine will be a top priority of the Cyprus presidency,” he said, adding that Zelenskiy will be present for the opening ceremony of Cyprus’ six-month term in Nicosia on Wednesday.

The call comes after Christodoulides had at last month’s European Council summit said that the EU must “confront” countries which attempt to help Russia evade sanctions placed on it as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.

The EU unveiled its most recent round of sanctions against Russia – its 19th since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – in October, with those sanctions including a full ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which will come into effect on January 1, 2027, for long-term contracts and “within six months” for short-term contracts.

This sanction may prove to be a boon for Cyprus, which expects to be able to export its own LNG to Europe via Egypt in 2027.

European energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen at the time described the ban on Russian LNG as “an unprecedented move that the EU makes in unity and full solidarity with Ukraine”.

“It will deal a major blow to Putin’s war machine and sustain peace efforts for Kyiv. Europe must regain its energy independence. Ukraine must prevail,” he said.