United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the Cyprus problem during a telephone call late on Tuesday night, ahead of Guterres’ meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman in New York on Wednesday.

Erhurman and Guterres are expected to meet at 12.15pm local time, 7.15pm Cyprus time. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis are expected to meet in Ankara at 4.15pm local time, 3.15pm Cyprus time.

On Tuesday, Fidan had said that Erdogan could “raise the issue” of ways which the Greek Cypriot side’s “reservations” regarding progress in relations between Turkey and the European Union could be lifted at that meeting.

He told CNN Turk that he believes that both Mitsotakis and his Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis have “the intention and the capacity to resolve these problems”, but that the “political climate” in Greece “does not allow for a conducive environment for resolving strategic issues”.

“They are constantly faced with a dilemma between resolving this historical issue and paying the political price,” he said.

His comments come after European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos had last week said she welcomes Turkey’s “engagement” in talks regarding the Cyprus problem following a meeting with Fidan in Ankara, having earlier spoken of an “opportunity” for Turkey to progress its process towards EU accession through Cyprus problem talks.

“We know that any progress is connected to bilateral relations, not just Cyprus, but also with the … new Cyprus settlement talks. It is now a big opportunity to continue,” Kos said, before adding that “there really is more that connects the EU and Turkey than what is dividing us”.

She later said that Turkey’s aim to be more deeply involved in Europe’s defence architecture would depend on the stances of the EU’s member states, and to this end said that “the new Cyprus settlement talks are a great opportunity for improvements in this area”.

Turkey’s next direct involvement in the Cyprus problem will likely come at an enlarged meeting, involving the island’s two sides, the UN and Turkey alongside the island’s other two guarantor powers, Greece and the United Kingdom.

However, a date for such a meeting has not yet been set, with a tripartite meeting involving President Nikos Christodoulides, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin held last month having ended without any agreements been reached.

Holguin had said after that meeting that no enlarged meeting could be held before “results on the confidence-building measures” between the island’s two sides are achieved.

She went on to say that “I am waiting for something more”, before replying to a question over whether Christodoulides and Erhurman had responded to the demand for more progress she had made on Tuesday by saying “I think they might. Not yet”.

Later, it was reported that Guterres had been “seriously disturbed” by the lack of progress achieved on the Cyprus problem since the previous tripartite meeting, which had taken place last month.

According to the reports, Guterres had “emphasised that the Cypriot leaders must urgently take steps to facilitate life between the two communities” in the form of confidence-building measures.

It was also reported that he had instructed Holguin to “tell the leaders that if no steps are taken on confidence-building measures, I will absolutely not convene an enlarged meeting” after the tripartite meeting.

Christodoulides and Erhurman will next meet on February 24.