CYPRUS: President to hold more talks with UN envoy

President Nicos Anastasiades, will hold more talks with UN envoy Jane Holl Lute after the outcome of her meeting with  Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

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Cypriot government spokesman, Prodromos Prodromou said that Sunday's meeting between Anastasiades and Lute was “constructive” and there was a discussion on the terms of reference for a resumption of Cyprus talks.

Prodromou clarified that Lute hasn’t presented anything in writing yet.

 

According to CNA sources, no joint meeting between Lute and the two leaders will take place during her time on the island. Lute is scheduled to meet with Akinci on Monday morning.

 

Referring to an interview Anastasiades gave to Euronews, Prodromou said that the President made clear that since energy wealth of the island is in the state's responsibility on behalf of all Cypriots, the Turkish Cypriot community will have its share.

He estimated it would take at least five years for the commercial exploitation of Cyprus’ natural gas and until then there is plenty of time to have a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

"Under an agreement for a solution, we will refer to the convergence achieved in the past during the negotiations about a reasonable allocation of gas revenues," Prodromou said.

He said no one could claim that the Republic of Cyprus is trying to take advantage of the natural wealth.

"On the contrary, the Republic of Cyprus acts on behalf of all its citizens and when the time comes for revenues, there will be a mechanism for sharing the allocation for the benefit of all Cypriot citizens," he said.

The last round of peace negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, ended in acrimony.