The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, have finished a UN-hosted dinner, at the Ledra Palace hotel, in the UN-controlled buffer zone.

UN Secretary General`s Special Advisor on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide hosted the dinner in an effort to help resume the stalled peace talks.

This is the first time Anastasiades and Akinci have met, following the suspension of the talks in mid February when  Akinci walked out of a meeting, claiming that a House decision to commemorate, briefly, in school a 1950 referendum advocating union with Greece was in fact a shift in the long standing position of the Greek Cypriot side for a bicommunal, bizonal federal solution in Cyprus.

President Anastasiades has described the decision “wrong”, saying the timing was not right. Akinci said he would not return to the negotiations unless the decision is revoked. The House is set to vote on an amendment on the bill, which essentially annuls the earlier House decision, on Friday 7 April.