Finance Minister Michael Sarris said he had reached no deal on financing with his Russian counterpart, Anton Siluanov, but talks were continuing.
Cypriot officials disclosed that the country's energy minister was also in Moscow, ostensibly for a tourism exhibition. Cyprus has found big gas reserves in its waters adjoining Israel but has yet to develop them.
"We had a very honest discussion, we've underscored how difficult the situation is," Sarris told reporters after talks with Siluanov. "We'll now continue our discussion to find the solution by which we hope we will be getting some support.
"There were no offers, nothing concrete," he said.
Austria's finance minister made clear the European Central Bank could soon pull the plug on Cypriot banks after the island's parliament rebuffed EU demands for a levy on bank deposits to raise 5.8 billion euros.
With Sarris and Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis in Moscow, there was mounting speculation that Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom had mooted its own assistance plan in exchange for exploration rights to Cyprus's offshore gas deposits.
Noble Energy reported a natural gas recovery of 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet of gas south of Cyprus in late 2011, in the island's first foray to tap offshore resources.
Russian authorities have denied the Kremlin plans to offer more money.
A senior source in the "troika" said dealing with Cyprus was even more frustrating than protracted wrangling with Greece.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/ ... 3I20130320
