CYPRUS: UN envoy to meet Cypriot leaders in peace talks push

UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute will arrive on the island at the weekend to hold talks with Cypriot leaders in a bid to open the door for dormant Cyprus talks to restart.

CNA reported that Lute will first hold a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday morning at the Presidential Palace.

Lute is expected in Cyprus in the evening of August 31 to hold separate talks with Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

After their informal meeting on August 9 the Cypriot leaders decided to continue engaging in the efforts undertaken by Lute “to finalize the Terms of Reference that would enable structured and results-oriented negotiations leading to a settlement with a sense of urgency".

Lute’s meeting with Akinci is expected to take place on Sunday afternoon, while the UN official is scheduled to leave the island late on Monday. She may also hold meetings with the two leaders before her departure.

Anastasiades and Akinci have declared their readiness to hold a tripartite meeting with the UN chief Antonio Guterres after September’s United Nations General Assembly in order to plan the way forward.

Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou hopes that with Lute’s presence in Cyprus and with the discussions that will take place, the necessary steps will be made in order to resume talks that collapsed two years ago.

The last round of Cyprus settlement negotiations, in July 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended in acrimony. There has been no official peace process since then.