UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held Monday a virtual meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and they discussed inter alia the situation in Cyprus, according to a UN readout.

At the same time, during a press briefing, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric referred to the contacts of Jane Holl Lute with the leaders in Cyprus.

According to the readout, the meeting with Johnson, which was part of Guterres’ virtual visit to the United Kingdom to mark the 75th anniversary of the first Session of the UN General Assembly, took place in London’s Central Hall, in Westminster.

The Secretary-General and the British Prime Minister discussed the response to COVID-19 pandemic, also in the context of the UK’s G7 Presidency in 2021, climate action, sustainable development goals and also the situations in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Cyprus.

Dujarric was called to reply to a questions, saying that “the Cyprus Government has announced that the Secretary‑General is planning to meet with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.” The Spokesman said that Jane Holl Lute is currently on the island.

“Just taking things one step at a time, Jane Holl Lute is currently on the island. She’s visiting Cyprus from 10 to 12 January for meetings with Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar. This is part of her consultations she’s carrying out on behalf of the Secretary‑General with the two Cypriot communities, as well as the guarantor powers, in order to assess conditions to prepare for an informal meeting of the 5+1”, he said.

Cyprus’ Government Spokesman Kyriakos Koushos, said Monday that Lute has briefed President Anastasiades on the UN Secretary General`s intention to convent an informal five-party conference within February 2021. He also said that the President “expressed his readiness to take part in the informal five-party meeting in the context of the UN SG`s letter, dated October, 2020.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest UN backed round of talks took place in 2017, n the Swiss resort of Crans Montana, but failed to yield any results.