UN Secretary General`s special envoy, Jane Holl Lute, will probably return to Cyprus for meetings during the first half of January 2021, after the positive answers she received from the two sides on the island and the three guarantor powers – Greece, UK and Turkey – as regards the convening by the Secretary General of an informal 5+1 meeting, a diplomatic source has said, adding that the UN consider positive the fact that everyone said they were ready to attend an informal meeting.

Lute`s visit will aim at preparing the informal meeting, that will aim at achieving a common understanding as regards the pursued goal and how the process will move on.

On January 10, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who will spend Christmas in his country, Portugal, is expected to submit his reports about the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and his good offices mission for Cyprus to the UN Security Council. The Council is expected to renew, until the end of January, UNFICYP`s mandate for six more months.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. The latest round of UN-backed peace talks ended without results in the summer of 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana.