President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday that “the time for serious business has come” on the Cyprus issue, stressing that the Greek Cypriot side is fully prepared to respond “whenever the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convenes a broader conference” on the problem.

Speaking to reporters after the traditional blessing of the waters ceremony in Paphos, Christodoulides also said Cyprus was ready to assume and preside over the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Wishing the public well for the feast day, the president said that Wednesday’s official launch of Cyprus’ EU Council presidency marked “a moment of pride” for the country.

“At a time when challenges are continuously mounting, I am absolutely confident that, as the Cypriot presidency, we will meet this institutional obligation towards the European Union,” he said.

“Our sole objective is to strengthen the EU’s autonomy and further advance European integration, as current international developments demand. We are fully prepared to take on this responsibility.”

Asked to comment on the latest reports by Guterres, Christodoulides said he noted their positive tone, describing it as the first time in a long while that such language had been used.

“I take from this the need to discuss the substance of the Cyprus problem, which is where our focus must be,” he said.

“For two and a half years, due to [former Turkish Cypriot leader] Mr Tatar’s positions, we were unable to truly move forward and limited discussions to confidence-building measures.”

“The time for substance has come, and we are fully ready, whenever the Secretary-General calls us, to respond to this broader conference, which has already been agreed will take place with one sole purpose: the resumption of talks from where they left off at Crans-Montana.”

Commenting on what he described as ongoing Turkish provocations, the president said the situation was “particularly worrying”.

“I have already been in contact with the head of Unficyp in Cyprus, who travelled to New York yesterday ahead of his briefing to the UN Security Council,” Christodoulides said.

“This is a matter of concern, and we are making all the necessary diplomatic démarches and taking other actions, because our primary concern is the safety of farmers and of all those who lawfully operate within the buffer zone.”