Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are meeting tonight over dinner, at the residence of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative and Deputy Special Adviser on Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar, in the UN-controlled buffer zone.

This is the first time Anastasiades and Akinci are meeting since the collapse of the peace talks in July last year. The dinner is set for 19.00 local time (17.00 GMT).

Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou, speaking on Friday after a meeting between President Anastasiades and Elizabeth Spehar, said that the objective, at least of the Greek Cypriot side, is the resumption of the negotiations.

Prodromou clarified that “it will not be a meeting of negotiations,” but one through which President Anastasiades wishes to see the resumption of the peace talks.

He also noted that the meeting will not have an agenda, adding that “this will allow the two leaders to exchange views freely.”

Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to lead to a negotiated settlement that would reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.