Mr. Nelson said he had spoken with Mr. Ross about the Bank of Cyprus and had been told
that Mr. Ross had one meeting of about an hour with a Russian investor in the lender in 2014.
After leading a group of around 30 investors from the United States
and elsewhere in a 2014 investment in the Bank of Cyprus worth 400 million euros, Mr. Ross served for a period as co-vice chairman of the bank along with Mr. Strzhalkovsky, Mr. Putin’s old K. G.B.
“Nobody could tell the Russians that they could not invest, but they are proud people and they could see
that this was an attempt to keep them out — or at least minimize their influence,” said Mr. Papaconstantinou, who lost his seat on the bank’s board in the purge that started after Mr. Ross’s arrival.
But while several of Mr. Trump’s closest allies have come under scrutiny for Kremlin ties, Mr. Ross, who was confirmed
by the Senate on Monday, was no friend to the Russians in Cyprus — and in fact, he forced them out of the bank.
Mr. Papaconstantinou, the former board member, said he spoke with Mr. Ross during one of his visits to Cyprus
and asked why he had put money into such a troubled bank.