UN Special Representative and UNFICYP chief, Khassim Diagne is reported to brief the Security Council in New York next month as diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations on the Cyprus issue gather pace ahead of a planned expanded meeting.

According to information obtained by the Cyprus News Agency, Diagne’s briefing is expected to take place behind closed doors during the second week of July.

The Security Council has yet to announce the dates for its consideration of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ reports on his good offices mission and the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus.

Discussions over the apparent direction of proposed talks have intensified in recent days following reports that alternative notions of a ‘loose federation’ for a future settlement framework may be under consideration.

President Nikos Christodoulides has meanwhile stressed that the European Union has “the most decisive role” in supporting the UN-led effort, arguing that any future settlement must be fully compatible with EU principles and law.

Former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ozdil Nami argued that a new power-sharing model was “neither necessary nor appropriate”, saying the core elements of governance had already been negotiated through previous rounds of talks.

Moreover, Akel secretary-general Stefanos Stefanou has called for the Greek Cypriot side to maintain a clear position that negotiations should resume from where they ended at Crans-Montana in 2017 while preserving previously agreed convergences.