UN to host informal meeting of Cyprus’ rival leaders

NICOSIA, Cyprus – The United Nations says it will host a new informal meeting later this month between the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus.

It’s hoped Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and breakaway Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci will start laying the groundwork for a return to reunification negotiations almost two years after the most recent bid to hammer out a peace accord collapsed.

The U.N. said Friday the Feb. 26 meeting will take place at a compound inside the U.N. controlled buffer zone separating the breakaway north and the internationally recognized south.

U.N. envoy Jane Holl Lute has been shuttling between the leaders and guarantors Greece, Turkey and Britain over several months to prepare the framework for a reprise of talks. Akinci said he doesn’t foresee any real movement before summer.