Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Sunday that the state has no greater concern than the resolution of the Cyprus problem.

“We assure the Cypriot people that there is no greater concern than the resolution of the Cyprus problem, the supreme national issue, and we will continue to make every possible effort so that there can be developments,” Letymbiotis said.

In his statements to reporters after a church service in Nicosia, and asked if there was any update on when the UN Secretary General’s personal envoy for the Cyprus problem, Maria Angel Holguin, would meet with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Letymbiotis said that “the information we have is that Ms Holguin will go to UN Headquarters for a one-to-one meeting with the secretary-general to discuss the facts and exchange views on the effort to resume the talks. We look forward to an update from Ms Holguin”.

Asked what will be discussed between the two, Letymbiotis added that “what we have over time wanted is an objective presentation of the facts. From our side, the initiatives taken personally by the president himself and our sincere commitment to the resumption of talks, full alignment with the agreed framework and resolutions are self-evident”.

“We know that things have not been and are not easy, but we have no choice. We will consistently and continuously make every possible effort to resume the talks from the point where they have been interrupted, with a view to a final resolution of the problem, on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality,” he said.

Asked if there is a timeline for Holguin’s efforts, he added that the terms of her mandate are decided by the UN Secretary General himself.

“It is up to him to decide for how long Ms Holguin will continue her efforts. We expect that Holguin will continue, she has indicated that she and the Secretary-General remain firmly committed with undiminished interest in the resumption efforts. Her contract was until July which the Secretary-General can renew,” he said.

Asked if in the event that Guterres considers that there is a deadlock, then a ‘gravestone’ will be placed on the Cyprus problem, he said “in no way is a ‘gravestone’ placed on the Cyprus problem and we will never allow it to be placed. It is, after all, our supreme national obligation neither to put a headstone nor to deviate even one millimetre from the agreed framework and the Security Council resolutions that shield our country. Let us wait for the meeting and not speculate”.