President expresses readiness to create conditions to resume talks in a meeting with UN official

He added “you can count on me and on the entire UNFICYP team” to support these efforts
The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, expressed the political will to address the challenges and to create the appropriate conditions for the resumption of talks from the point they were left off in Crans-Montana in 2017, during his meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace with the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of UNFICYP, Khassim Diagne.
According to a Presidency statement, the President also expressed his own willingness, as well as that of all members of his team working on the Cyprus issue, to work closely with Diagne.
For his part, the UN official stated, among other things, that the Secretary-General is deeply committed to the process of resolving the Cyprus problem, adding that in his capacity and role, and with the President’s support, he will do everything possible to ensure that any activities undertaken by the UN in Cyprus contribute meaningfully to creating the conditions for the President and the Turkish Cypriot leader to engage in substantive talks.
He added “you can count on me and on the entire UNFICYP team” to support these efforts.
Also present at the meeting were the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, the Greek Cypriot negotiator, Menelaos Menelaou, Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the Director of the President’s Diplomatic Office, Doros Venezis, and the Director of the President’s Press Office, Victor Papadopoulos.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
In 2025 the Secretary-General hosted two informal meetings on Cyprus, in March in Geneva and in July in New York, while a tripartite meeting with the Cyprus leaders was also held in late September, at the end of the UN General Assembly High Level Week. An informal meeting in broader format is expected later this year.
María Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties, while former European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, designated by the Commission as Special Envoy for Cyprus, is also expected to contribute to the settlement process, in cooperation with Holguín.
Source: CNA