‘We are not in the business of giving ultimatums’, says UNSG spokesperson

“We are not in the business of giving ultimatums, as if ‘you don’t get, we’ll give up if something doesn’t happen’”, said UN Secretary General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric on Thursday, when asked about the upcoming informal meeting on Cyprus.

In a question whether the UN will give up this time if they don’t get anything (done), Dujarric said that “if you look at the even flow of our efforts on Cyprus, there have been ups and there have been flows”.

“Ms. Jane Holl Lute has been consulting with the parties. We think this is an opportune time. It’s an informal meeting and we very much hope there will be a positive outcome,” he pointed out.

The UN announced on Wednesday that an informal five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus issue will take place on April 27-29, with the purpose to determine whether common ground exists for the parties to negotiate a lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, within a foreseeable horizon.

On Thursday, President Nicos Anastasiades welcomed the UN announcement convening the meeting and said  he would participate with the political will to find common ground with the Turkish Cypriots that would lead to substantive negotiations to resolve the island’s division

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.