Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci meet on Thursday afternoon in the context of the Cyprus reunification talks.

The meeting takes place at 1830 hours local time (1530 GMT) at the UN protected area within the Nicosia buffer zone.

This is the second time the two leaders meet after a nearly two month break in the talks after Akinci left the negotiating table.

The meeting is expected to focus on EU matters, governance and economy.

The two negotiators Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ozdil Nami met yesterday to prepare the meeting while earlier on members of the Greek Cypriot negotiating team, took part in a meeting at the Presidential Palace in the presence of Mavroyiannis and Attorney General Costas Clerides for coordination purposes.

In statements after their fist meeting last Tuesday Presisdent Anastasiades expressed the wish that this new round of talks will bring the two sides at a point where they can speak of convergences which lead to a solution of the Cyprus problem.

He also said that the negotiators would prepare proposals so that the dialogue can begin.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-backed talks aim to reunite the island under a federal roof.