President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday expressed optimism regarding the next steps to be taken on the Cyprus problem after meeting United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin, saying, like Holguin, that he is “working to prepare” an enlarged meeting in the near future.

“I am moderately optimistic. We will meet Holguin again this week. It is important that she will visit Turkey, she will visit Greece, she will visit Brussels, she will come back to Cyprus,” he said.

He added that he is “minded” to convene a meeting of the National Council next week, and that “our goal is clear” regarding the next steps.

“We know where we want to go, we know what we are seeking, and I hope that this moderate optimism, based on what we discussed, will be transformed into something very specific and tangible,” he said.

Asked if any dates have been discussed for when an enlarged meeting could be held, he answered in the affirmative, but said that “I cannot make them public” as “it would not be right”.

“I have been working on some dates, but it will be a long summer,” he said.

He was then asked whether any “framework document” or other similar proposal has been made, and said that “I do not want to go into details, because the result is important and we must ensure that we will have a positive result”.

“This effort is ongoing. We want more than anyone else to have a result, so I want to be sparing in my statements. The goal is to lead us into an enlarged meeting, during which the resumption of talks will be announced,” he said, before adding that “this is also the goal of the United Nations”.

Later, he stressed that “we are always talking about the essence of the Cyprus problem”, and that his discussion with Holguin centred upon “very important, substantive issues”.

“Based on these, if we reach the desired goal, to convene an enlarged meeting, which will see the announcement of a resumption [of negotiations] from the point at which they were interrupted, that will be our goal,” he said.

Then asked whether UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres intends to prepare a negotiating document, he said that “I do not wish to go into details”, and that in any case, “it is not a matter” for Guterres to prepare such a document.

Guterres, he said, “is operating within a specific framework, the terms of the mandate given by the UN security council”.

He then added to this end that “the sounding out began in March, so that we can reach the desired result”, in reference to his own meeting with Guterres in Brussels three months ago.

Asked if the goal remains to convene an enlarged meeting in the summer, he said that “we are ready any time”.

“We are already in the summer. We are in June. As I told you before, it will be a summer during which we will be here to work,” he said.

He was then asked whether progress will be made by the end of next month, and said that “I do not want to rush”.

“It does not matter when, whether it is July, August, whether it is the end of June. What matters is that we reach an agreement, and if we do not reach an agreement there, there is no point in discussing when,” he said.

Then asked whether the ideas discussed in Cyprus will be presented to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when Holguin visits Ankara, he said that “the decisive factor was [Guterres’] own meeting with [Erdogan] and then our own meeting in Brussels, [and Guterres’] contact with the European Union’s institutions”.

“All of this creates a dynamic. Now, the discussion is concrete. In essence, they are not general and vague discussions, they are very specific, and I want to say, based on what we discussed today, that I am cautiously optimistic,” he said.

He added that he will meet Holguin again this week before she leaves Cyprus on Sunday.

Asked whether he will hold a tripartite meeting with Holguin and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, he said the matter “was not discussed” during his meeting with Holguin on Monday.

“If it arises, I am ready, but to be completely honest with you, we did not discuss such a thing,” he said.