United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday announced plans for a new enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem to be convened “after adequate progress” is achieved on the matters of confidence-building measures, the meeting’s methodology and the substance of the talks.

Speaking after a tripartite meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, he did not set a deadline for such a meeting to be held, but said that there is a “consensus” among both sides and the island’s three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, for such a meeting to be held.

He also stressed that the UN does not wish for “another enlarged meeting to end without result”, before reiterating his insistence that there be “adequate preparation” made in advance of such a meeting.

“We will work in consultation with the two sides and the guarantors, to create the conditions for the meeting’s success,” he said.

He also touched on the role the “international community” has to play in Cyprus, with this comment coming after it had been earlier announced that the European Commission’s envoy for the Cyprus problem Raffaele Fitto will visit Cyprus on Thursday and Friday.

“In particular, I count on the continued support of the three guarantors,” he said.

Looking back on his visit to the island, he said that he wished to express “deep appreciation for the warm welcome I have received from all Cypriots”, before adding that “Cyprus is an island of remarkable history, rich culture and enduring resilience”.

“It is also a place where the beauty and potential of the present co-exist with the scars of a painful past. During my visit, I have seen both, but above all, I have witnessed a deep desire among Cypriots to build a more peaceful and shared future,” he said.

He also looked back to his interactions with Cyprus throughout his ten-year tenure as secretary-general, which will conclude at the end of the year, saying that “acting in line with the United Nations parameters, I have sought, through my good offices, to assist Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in their efforts to reach a comprehensive, sustainable solution”.

“We met in Geneva and in Crans Montana in 2017, in Berlin in 2019, in Geneva in 2021, and again in New York and Geneva in 2024 and 2025. In this context, it was my duty to come to Cyprus to express my full solidarity with the people of Cyprus in their quest for a solution,” he said.

However, he stressed, the visit was not simply a courtesy call, but “the moment when all efforts must be made to rebuild trust”.

“To that end, it is essential to redouble efforts to define and implement confidence-building measures that can make a difference in the daily lives of all Cypriots,” he said, before appealing to the two leaders directly to “intensify these efforts”.

He added that his envoy Maria Angela Holguin has been “working with the parties” and “building on past UN efforts”, while also working based on “what she has heard directly from Cypriots themselves”.

Regarding his contacts on the island, he said that he “also had the opportunity to hear from many Cypriots”, and that “their message was clear: they want progress”.

“They want to see their leaders make compromises and to walk that last mile towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue. They want a future in which this island is defined not by division, but by cooperation, opportunity and peace. That was also the spirit of my frank and constructive discussions with the two leaders, both separately and together,” he said.

He added that “both Erhurman and Christodoulides assured me of their determination to continue to work in earnest” with Holguin, and said that prior to the convening of an enlarged meeting, “we will work in consultation with the two sides and the guarantors, to create the conditions for the meeting’s success”.

Additionally, he called on all sides to “respect the mandated authority of the UN peacekeeping operation in Cyprus … both in the buffer zone and the UN-delineated ceasefire lines”, before offering praise for Unficyp itself.

“For more than six decades, Unficyp has helped maintain calm and stability in a sensitive environment. Its continued effectiveness depends on the cooperation of all sides,” he said.

He went on to praise the committee on missing persons and its “remarkable bicommunal efforts to respond to the anxiety of the families of all missing persons”, and added that he was “equally impressed by the work of the bicommunal technical committees”.

Those committees, he said, are “bridging the gap between the political track and everyday citizens, and finding practical solutions”.

He closed by stressing that “a solution in Cyprus is crucial, not only for the people of Cyprus themselves, but also as a factor of stability in a region which is becoming increasingly unstable”, before warning that “no solution means that Cyprus is much more vulnerable to a region which is largely in flames”.