President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday said that Cyprus is in need of “good news” as he welcomed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the presidential palace.

“We are very glad to have you here. It is another clear indication of your commitment to the solution of the Cyprus problem based on the UN security council resolutions,” he said.

He added, “we need good news in Cyprus, we need good news in the region, we need good news at the international level, and we count on your support and on your political commitment, especially in these very challenging times”.

On this front, he warned that there are now “certain actors that undermine the international system that was established following World War Two”, and said that as such, the international community has a “responsibility to do whatever is necessary in order for international law, international values and principles, to be upheld”.

Christodoulides’ meeting with Guterres lasted around an hour and a quarter, and after that meeting, Guterres said “this visit is a visit of solidarity to the people of Cyprus and to show my strong commitment to make sure that we are able to have, finally, a solution in Cyprus”.

He added that the pursuit of a solution “depends, obviously, on the Cypriots themselves”, and said that the island’s three guarantor powers “also have a role to play”, but stressed that “I will do everything I can to support Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in this important moment”.

Following his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman later in the day, he said words to the same effect, before departing for meetings with civil society groups and the Committee on Missing Persons during the afternoon.

He will then host an evening meal with both leaders at UN special representative Khassim Diagne’s official residence in the buffer zone in Nicosia on Tuesday evening, before convening a tripartite meeting with both leaders at the UN’s good offices mission, near the old Nicosia airport, on Wednesday.

Guterres’ visit to Cyprus comes amid a “new initiative” being taken with the aim of bringing about a resumption of negotiations in earnest to solve the Cyprus problem.

It is hoped that this “new initiative” will culminate in an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem being convened later in the summer, with that meeting set to involve the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and the UN.