A two-state solution in Cyprus is a non-starter, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, according to President Nicos Anastasiades, who met with the UN chief on Friday, June 25 in Brussels, Cyprus Mail reports.

Guterres later met with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

According to Anastasiades, Guterres told him that a two-state solution was a “non-starter”, clarifying that the terms of his mandate were clear and provided for a solution based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation (BBF), with political equality in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.

“He acknowledged that the Turkish positions were hampering efforts to resume talks but said that he would continue to work to create the conditions for a meaningful dialogue,” Anastasiades said.

The president said he told Guterres that the Greek Cypriot side agreed with his proposal, as submitted at the informal summit in Geneva last April, for the appointment of a special representative for the Cyprus issue and expressed the hope “that it will receive a positive response from Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish side.”

Tatar said earlier in the week that he had rejected Guterres’ proposal for the appointment of a special representative to work on a four-point package based on the settlement framework which had been tabled by the UN Secretary-General at the Crans- Montana talks in 2017. He said he rejected it because it would send the wrong message as Turkish Cypriots would find themselves involved in a process in which their sovereignty would not be accepted.

On the possibility of another informal summit on Cyprus, Anastasiades said this was up to Guterres.

Anastasiades said he has proposed to Guterres a substantive dialogue, instead of another such summit in search of common ground. “Because, as I have emphasised, the common ground exists, it is contained in the UN resolutions,” he added. He also reiterated the confidence-building measures (CBMs) he had suggested last December and at the Geneva summit.

“I cannot predict what the next steps of the Secretary-General will be and when he might convene (a summit). He will either appoint a special representative or convene a new informal five-party meeting,” Anastasiades said.

He also said that what was being sought by a summit convened by Guterres “is to make Mr. Tatar realise that it is not possible to put forward positions that contradict the UN resolutions, or the terms of the Secretary-General’s mandate.”