Talks need to resume from where they were halted in Crans-Montana in 2017, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday, reiterating his readiness to restart negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot side.

“There is a lot being heard, statements, comments and so on. I am not distracted from my goal. My goal is one, it is clear and it is the resumption of the talks from where they left off in Crans-Montana, building on the negotiating acquis,” he said.

Speaking at the 60th anniversary celebrations of Frederick University in Nicosia, Christodoulides reaffirmed his commitment to convening an extended conference, as had been agreed on in recent talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin.

Christodoulides, in response to statements made by Erhurman earlier in the day, refuted claims that the lack of a solution was because the Greek Cypriot side refused to share its “wealth and power”.

“Turkey’s position is clearly for a two-state solution in Cyprus, if this is Mr Erhurman’s position, he should say so publicly,” the president said.

He firmly restated his preparation for the talks, emphasising that his commitment remained unaffected by the ongoing EU Council presidency or the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“I conveyed the facts. The facts are very specific. That the presidency and the parliamentary elections do not affect the process of resolving the Cyprus problem at all,” he said.

Citing the joint statement issued by the two leaders after their meeting on December 11, Christodoulides referred to the specific mention of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These, he said, encompass a very detailed solution, a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as outlined in the resolution and assured that he would raise the matter at his upcoming meeting with Erhurman, scheduled for February 24.

Asked whether he planned to discuss his criticism of Holguin’s statements on the Cyprus problem in an opinion piece with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he clarified that he had not actually been dissatisfied.

He emphasised that Guterres’ spokesperson had confirmed that the dialogue would continue until June.

“And indeed, contacts continue, both here, between the negotiators, and with the United Nations and the European Union. I repeat, I am not distracted from the big goal. My main goal is one, it is the resumption of talks and that is where I am focusing all my efforts,” Christodoulides concluded.

Speaking on Turkish television channel NTV on Wednesday, Erhurman said that his administration is “on the same page as Turkey on the Cyprus issue.”

He argued that a “strong consultation mechanism” with Ankara ensures coordinated policy and added that an agreement had been reached on the joint use of shared sovereign territories.

Erhurman underlined that any negotiation with Greek Cypriots must recognise political equality between the two sides and reiterated that talks cannot resume under the current framework unless the Turkish Cypriot side’s rights are guaranteed.

“This should be the state before negotiations. The UN Secretary General is aware that the system of negotiations in place failed to produce a solution,” he said following his recent meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Criticising the lack of results in previous talks, Erhurman said that “leaders who cannot even manage to open two crossing points on the island cannot negotiate for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.”

He declared that rather than “negotiating for the sake of negotiating”, his administration’s objective was a “negotiation for a solution.”

Guterres had on Tuesday expressed “full confidence” in Holguin, noting that he shared her assessment that more progress is needed from the island’s leaders, as were expressed by her in a recent opinion piece.