Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (L) meets with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides in Athens, Greece, on Sept. 12, 2018. Nikos Kotzias had talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides here on Wednesday ahead of a trilateral meeting with Israel on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Kotzias had talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulidis here on Wednesday ahead of a trilateral meeting with Israel on Thursday.
The two ministers who will depart together for Israel did not make statements, but they "coordinated to promote regional cooperation", Greek national news agency AMNA reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The Greek minister briefed his counterpart on the meetings he had on Tuesday in Athens with the UN special envoy on the Cyprus dispute Jane Holl Lute as well as last week in Turkey with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Negotiations on the Cyprus issue under the UN Secretary General should restart "only after the other side displays a sincere intention to look for resolution," Kotzias commented after his meeting with Holl Lute, according to a Greek Foreign Ministry press statement.
The UN Special Envoy did not make any statements.
The latest round of negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue, which have been going on for decades, ended in disagreement last year.
The Mediterranean Sea island has been divided since 1974 after Turkish troops occupied the North following a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.
