Powerful US senator wants to end requiring yearly approval for US weapons sales to Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he will push to either end or extend the timeline of a legal clause that requires annual approval for the sale of U.S.-made weapons to Cyprus. New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez told a gathering of Cypriot diaspora in the capital Nicosia on Thursday that ending or extending the year-by-year approval process would enable ethnically divided Cyprus to have the “long range planning abilities” for its domestic defense.  U.S.-made weapons sales to Cyprus for 2024 were approved last week. The ethnically divided island nation must meet conditions including denying Russian military vessels access to ports for refueling and servicing.