UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Thursday he will convene a new round of informal 5+1 talks on the Cyprus...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Thursday he will convene a new round of informal 5+1 talks on the Cyprus problem, following separate meetings with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman during his first-ever visit to the island. Guterres said discussions with both leaders were constructive, both in one-on-one sessions and in a joint meeting. The 5+1 format includes the two Cypriot sides alongside Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers, with the UN facilitating. No date has been set for the talks. When asked for a timeline, Guterres was direct: "We have not set a deadline. We will work toward it." The Secretary-General pushed both leaders to intensify their efforts toward a settlement, saying he heard a strong desire among Cypriots for cooperation and peace. He was clear that the UN cannot impose a solution but said the organization remains fully committed to supporting the Cypriot people at what he called a critical moment. Guterres framed a Cyprus settlement as a regional stability issue, not just a bilateral one. He said a successful outcome would have a significant stabilizing effect on an Eastern Mediterranean that is, in his words, becoming dangerously unstable. Without a solution, he warned, Cyprus becomes far more vulnerable to those risks. The last formal round of 5+1 negotiations collapsed at Crans-Montana in Switzerland in 2017. This announcement marks the first time Guterres has personally committed to reconvening that format from the island itself. #Cyprus #CyprusTalks #UnitedNations