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After Tuesday's dramatic defeat in the Cyprus parliament of the EU's €10bn rescue plan, which would have seen all bank deposits of more than €20,000 taxed, Cypriot finance minister Michalis Sarris hastily jetted to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov.
Russia is one of Cyprus's major creditors with rating agency Moody's estimating around €25bn in Russian cash is kept in Cypriot accounts. Russia reacted furiously to earlier proposals to tax bank deposits, with President Vladimir Putin describing the plan as "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous."
Sarris told Cypriot news outlet CNA that his meeting with Siluanov would be to "discuss how Russia could assist in finding the billions needed" to save the Mediterranean island's inflated banking sector and pledged he would not leave Moscow until a deal had been agreed.
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