NICOSIA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday urged the UN to resume efforts to find a commonly acceptable peace deal for the divided island of Cyprus.
"We support a resumption of the UN secretary general's good offices mission and we hope the reactivation of the mission will lead to a resumption of talks for a Cyprus settlement," Lavrov told reporters during his three-day official visit here.
"Our long-standing position is that any solution must be agreed on by both sides and not one that is imposed from outside. All developments have shown that Russia's stance is the correct one," he added.
In a report to the UN Security Council, UN chief Kofi Annan said the time was not ripe to appoint a new full-time representative for Cyprus. The office was effectively shut down after the failure of Annan's reunification blueprint at a referendum in April 2004 following two-years of talks.
Greek Cypriot voters rejected the plan, while Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly backed it.
UN special envoy Kieran Prendergast has recently wound up a regional diplomatic offensive in efforts to resume stalled settlement talks. He is expected to report back to Annan in New York on Wednesday after contacts in Nicosia, Athens and Ankara.
With efforts underway to get both parties back to the negotiation table, Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, is seen as a key ally by the Greek Cypriot side.
Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said Russia had an active role to play in efforts to kick-start a new Cyprus peace initiative.
"We want Russia to play a serious role in developments on the Cyprus problem in the security council as it has done in the past."
On May 1, 2004, a divided Cyprus joined the European Union, with the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south enjoying full benefits of membership while the Turkish Cypriot north is broadly excluded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.
06/08/2005 12:05 GMT