“The international community has invested a great deal in the Cypriot-driven process and has high expectations,” Ban told reporters in Athens on Wednesday, where he was attending a conference on migration. “I believe the talks are making reasonably good progress, and this momentum must be kept up,” he said.
The UN has been careful to emphasize that the process is Cypriot-driven. The world body was stung badly in 2004 when a plan it presented to the two sides was rejected by the Greek Cypriots and accepted by the Turkish Cypriots. “The sides must be left to find the formula of a settlement themselves. ... The international community can assist, there cannot be any formula imposed from the outside,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday during a visit to Greek Cyprus. He also cautioned against the introduction of “artificial deadlines” which could pressure both sides.
