DIPLOMACY: Cyprus and Greece to coordinate strategy on peace push

President Nicos Anastasiades will hold talks in Athens on Monday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on joint strategy in view of a renewed UN-backed effort to resume stalled reunification talks.

They will discuss developments on the Cyprus problem, in the light of the contacts held by the UN envoy, Jane Holl Lute, and planned meetings in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

They will also examine the next tripartite meeting of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt at a leaders’ level in Greece next month.

Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told CNA that during their meeting on Monday, Anastasiades and Tsipras will coordinate on the Cyprus problem in view of the UN General Assembly and the preparations carried out by Lute.

On the agenda will be the trilateral partnerships the two countries have with countries of the region and especially the Trilateral Meeting of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt at a leaders’ level to be held in October in Greece.

As part of joined-up policy approach, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will meet on Wednesday with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides to inform him on his meeting with Lute.

The two will also discuss Kotzias’ meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last week.

The two Ministers will depart for Israel where on Thursday they will participate in negotiations within the framework of the Greece, Cyprus, Israel trilateral partnership.

There has been no movement on Cyprus talks sine an UN-brokered summit collapsed in Switzerland in July 2017.