The leaders are under pressure to achieve a breakthrough before the EU summit in December, when Turkey could be sanctioned for its refusal to open its ports and airports to Cypriot traffic.
VOA: standard.2009.09.05
The Russian refusal to budge has played well with supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has cast it as a refusal to bend to Western pressure or sell out friends.
We write today to express our appreciation for your refusal to yield to the pressure to sign the APL ban recently negotiated in Oslo, an accord that would have denied our service personnel both of these vital capabilities.