Meeting UNSG this month of ‘particular importance’

Nicosia attaches particular importance to meeting the UN Secretary-General in March, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

In statements to the media, he reminded he had sent a letter to UNSG Antonio Guterres a long time ago and a meeting has been planned, through diplomatic channels, in March.

He said that the exact date will be announced when it is clarified.

The meeting, he added, is of particular importance, “so that we can proceed, if all those involved in the Cyprus problem really mean it, to the resumption of talks, to the discussion of the substance through this dialogue, so that we can be led not only to the resumption of talks but to finding a solution of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the agreed framework.”

In a letter addressed to Guterres last week, Christodoulides reaffirming that the country’s EU council presidency and the upcoming parliamentary elections “in no way affect” the immediate resumption of substantive negotiations on the Cyprus problem, as had been suggested in an op-ed by UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin.

In his letter, Christodoulides expressed readiness to meet Guterres in March to advance the peace process and outlined a five-point proposal to restart talks, including submitting convergences from previous negotiations, convening the next informal expanded meeting, resuming negotiations, and opening four crossing points.