United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was open to new ideas regarding solving the Cyprus problem.
Speaking at a press conference held at the UN Headquarters, he said the following:
“My intention is to bring together the two communities in Cyprus and the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the UK in early March. We decided to have an informal meeting with no preconditions. Parties have a chance to honestly discuss how they see the future. I have a mandate from the UN Security Council regarding the negotiations and this method offers a bi-communal, bi-faceted solution, but this does not prevent the parties from presenting their positions. If the parties agree to expand the scope of the negotiations, I am always ready to go to the Security Council.
“The first step is to bring the parties together, listen to them and look at the results of the talks. It means I do not adhere to the authorisation I have received. It does not mean that I am not open to listening to everyone and to the common point of the parties regarding their future”.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is to pay a flying visit to Cyprus on Thursday. Raab will be meeting both Cypriot community leaders – Nicos Anastasiades and Ersin Tatar, ahead of the informal five-party conference on Cyprus in March.
BRTK
