President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ statement following the latest Cyprus talks was “not open to any interpretation”, rejecting suggestions that its contents could be read differently.

Addressing members of the Cypriot diaspora’s central council at the presidential palace, Christodoulides said the secretary general’s remarks were clear and unambiguous.

“The statement of the UN Secretary General does not admit of any interpretation whatsoever different from what he stated,” the president said.

His comments come after Guterres concluded meetings with Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, during which he announced plans to convene a new enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem once sufficient progress had been made on confidence building measures, the methodology of the talks and substantive issues.

Guterres said there was consensus among the two sides and the three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, that another enlarged meeting should take place, but stressed it would only be held after “adequate preparation” to maximise the prospects of success.

“We will work in consultation with the two sides and the guarantors, to create the conditions for the meeting’s success,” he said.

The UN chief also appealed to both leaders to intensify efforts to rebuild trust through confidence building measures, saying Cypriots had delivered a clear message during his visit.

“They want to see their leaders make compromises and to walk that last mile towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue”, Guterres said.

Welcoming members of the Cypriot diaspora, Christodoulides described the current period as “a critical juncture” for the Cyprus issue and said developments over the previous two days had required his full attention.

He told those attending that he wanted to brief them on the latest developments before discussing a series of issues behind closed doors.

The president’s remarks came ahead of the first visit by European Commission Executive Vice President Raffaele Fitto to Cyprus in his capacity as the European Union’s special representative for the Cyprus problem.

Fitto is expected to meet both Christodoulides and Erhurman tomorrow as part of the EU’s support for the settlement process.