The next enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem will take place in either July or August, United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin said on Monday after holding a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.

“We had a very productive meeting with Erhurman, as well as with [President Nikos] Christodoulides this morning. We are preparing a five-plus-one meeting with [UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres]. We do not know yet the exact date, but [it will take place] in the coming months,” she said.

She added that as such, “I am quite positive and optimistic, so we can continue to push for that meeting, and hope we can have good results”.

Asked whether the resumption of negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem will be announced at that enlarged meeting, she said, “we do not know, we will see what happens at that meeting”.

“This would be very good news, but I prefer to wait,” she added.

She then confirmed that she will meet both Erhurman and Christodoulides again over the weekend, before travelling to Ankara to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Monday, and then to Athens to meet Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis.

Earlier in the day, Christodoulides had also been asked whether any dates have been discussed for when an enlarged meeting could be held, and though he answered in the affirmative, he stressed that that “I cannot make them public” as “it would not be right”.

“I have been working on some dates, but it will be a long summer,” he said.

Holguin’s visit comes with sources having informed the Cyprus Mail that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has green-lit the “new initiative” being undertaken by the UN with the aim of bringing about a resumption of formal negotiations on the Cyprus problem.

Erdogan is said to be of the view that the lack of a solution to the Cyprus problem has “unduly cost Turkey through no fault of its own” in recent decades.

The sources said that Turkey’s support of both the 2004 referendum and the 2017 negotiations, both of which were rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, constitute evidence of Erdogan’s “pragmatic and constructive stance” and “will to engage in the hope of securing a solution to the Cyprus problem”.

The question of when a “new initiative” on the Cyprus problem may be undertaken has been ongoing for weeks, with Erhurman having said a month ago that such an initiative will begin in July, following the conclusion of Cyprus’ six-month term as the holder of the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency.

However, the Greek Cypriot side has insisted that such an initiative is “already underway”, with government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis having said that Christodoulides had “made public this initiative” after he met Guterres in Brussels in March.