The Greek Cypriot side’s assessment is that if the informal dinner in New York on Tuesday evening is followed up in the direction of the possible continuation of the effort to resume negotiations, this would be a positive step, according to sources that spoke to the CNA. However it still remains unclear what form such an effort could take, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has not shared his thoughts with the Greek Cypriot or the Turkish Cypriot side.
The Cyprus News Agency learns that President Nikos Christodoulides had a telephone conversation with the UNSG’s personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, before he left Cyprus, and is aware that the Colombian diplomat would like to be involved in any next steps of the effort, but understands that this will depend on the outcome.
However, the Greek Cypriot side stresses that it is approaching the informal dinner between President Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar with UNSG Guterres with different proposals for its next steps, de
pending on how the discussion develops.
Possible scenarios include the UN Secretary General expressing his intention to either convene a five-party meeting and asking the leaders to prepare themselves properly with bilateral meetings, or appoint a personal envoy, or prompting a discussion of confidence building measures which could be linked to the effort to resume talks.
The same sources do not rule out the possibility that the UNSG’s proposals could include an effort to re-launch the process utilising part of the Guterres Framework, placing particular emphasis to the negotiation chapters regarding troops, guarantees and governance.
The Greek Cypriot side reiterates that at the moment both itself and the Turkish Cypriot side as well as third parties do not have a clear picture of the UN Secretary General’s intentions in view of tonight’s dinner. In fact, UN officials in New York, including the UNSG’s associates, are said to have no accurate picture either.
The facts as they stand at the moment, governmen
t sources reiterate, are that Holguin has delivered her report, which the sides have not seen, and that this was followed by the UNSG sounding out the leaders towards holding a trilateral meeting on August 13.
The Greek Cypriot side believes that this indicates that, in the midst of various ongoing international crises, Guterres felt that there was something that could be discussed regarding the Cyprus problem, given that he is already well aware of the positions of the sides since September, and that Turkey has given its consent to some extent.
Therefore, it is considered that during the dinner the UN Secretary General will refer to the next step in the effort to resume talks, but that the framework and the nature of this effort, as well as the issues covered, are up to him. The same sources assess as remote the possibility that Guterres is preparing to say that there is no room for a continuation of the effort, as he could have invoked ongoing crises as a reason to not request this meeting. This is the sc
enario that the Greek Cypriot side considers the most negative.
It also remains unknown whether the UNSG will convey anything in writing to the sides, since any verbal input regarding the next steps would have to be general. If, on the other hand, there is a renewed effort to re-launch negotiations, this will need to be delegated by the UNSG.
Regarding the possibility of Holguin continuing to play a role even though her contract has expired, which the Turkish Cypriot side is said to interpret as the end of her involvement, Greek Cypriot sources note that it was the Colombian diplomat who briefed the Security Council after her contract ended.
The scenario of the process continuing with the role of envoy being assigned to Colin Stewart could point to a downgrading of the process, although the person who takes over would have to work closely with Holguin since the work would make use her “concept paper” submitted to the UN Secretary General.
On the other hand, there is also a possibility that an envoy will n
ot need to be involved for the time being, if the UN Secretary General presents his thoughts to the leaders and invites them to respond within a certain timeframe.
UK wants to be present at possible five party meeting
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Regarding the meeting that the President of the Republic had in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, government sources said that the UK side did not put forward its own ideas for the continuation of the process, and that it was the Cypriot side that raised the Cyprus issue. According to the same sources, about half of the discussion focused on issues related to Cyprus’ role in its region, whereas in the past these meetings were almost exclusively about the Cyprus problem.
However, according to the same sources, a UK official who participated in the discussion stressed two points when it comes to the Cyprus problem: the UK’s principled stance on the form of a solution and the UN framework, and that the country wants to be present at a possible five-party conf
erence as one of the guarantor powers and that they do not agree at this time with discussions about a 4+1 meeting, i.e. of the two Cypriot sides with Greece and Turkey and the UN Secretary General.
The Greek Cypriot side believes that the fact that the Downing Street announcement following the meeting makes no mention of the Cyprus problem is open to interpretation, and could be attributed either to London expecting there to be developments from the dinner or not, or that the new UK government it being cautious about its stance for the time being.
The British side is also reportedly particularly interested in the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026, during which the revision of the UK’s withdrawal agreement from the EU will be discussed, particularly regarding energy and fisheries.
During the meeting between President Christodoulides and Keir Starmer, Cyprus also raised a desire for the British Prime Minister to visit the country soon.
Source: Cyprus News Agency