Cyprus Pitch To Troika Rejected Monday Is Deadline To Accept Loan Terms Or Have Emergency Funds Cut Off Russia Cool To Helping Nicosia Islands Bank Closure Extended To Tuesday

The European Union (EU) and its partners on Thursday gave Cyprus until Monday to accept their terms for a financial rescue or deal with the inevitable collapse of its banks and its likely ejection from the euro zone. Meanwhile, Russia’s government declined to accept Nicosia’s offer of preferential access to natural gas deposits off the island’s coast in exchange for a multibillion-euro loan. The most Moscow did Wednesday was signal a general willingness to consider extending the length of a EUR2.5 billion ($3.23 billion) loan it gave to Cyprus and to lower its interest rate.

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