Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis welcomed the United States’ decision to completely lift a decades-old arms embargo on the divided island, on the condition that Nicosia continues to prevent Russian warships from entering its ports.

“This is a historic decision that reflects the growing strategic relationship between the two countries, including in the field of security,” Anastasiades said on social media.

Washington imposed an arms embargo on all of Cyprus in 1987, hoping to facilitate the reunification of the island, which had been divided after the Turkish invasion in 1974 and occupation of its northern part, in response to a coup by Greek Cypriot nationalists who wanted to annex the island to Greece.

In this context, US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday lifted restrictions on trade in defense equipment for Cyprus, an EU member.