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Roundup: U.S. Secretary of State says Cyprus solution is within reach

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he was convinced that a solution reuniting Cyprus was within reach.

"It can be done," Kerry told reporters after separate meetings with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

He added that in the light of what he learned from his talks it has become clear that tangible progress has been made in the negotiations.

Kerry paid a short visit to Cyprus which came on the heels of a one-day visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.

Tight security measures were in place when Kerry arrived just before dusk, as it was the case with Lavrov's visit.

"This is the moment of Cyprus," Kerry told journalists at the Fulbright Institution in the no-man land dividing the capital Nicosia in Greek and Turkish Cypriot sectors.

Kerry said the world needs a solution to the problem of Cyprus because the island is the only country in the region which can become a stabilizing factor and can serve as a lighthouse for other countries.

"Let anybody look at where Cyprus is situated and all can understand why a solution to this problem is important," said Kerry, referring to the island's commanding position in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Anastasiades and Akinci have been negotiating for seven months a solution which will reunify Cyprus after its partition in 1974.

Presidential Palace sources said Anastasiades and Kerry also discussed the economic aspect of a solution.

No figures have been mentioned in relation to the solution of the problem, but when Cyprus was near a settlement of its problem in 2004, a study said the island would have to shoulder a bill of about 24 billion euros - one and a half times the annual economy of Cyprus.

That was one of the reasons which prompted many Cypriots to vote down the 2004 solution proposed by the United Nations.

Kerry said the United States was committed at the highest level to a Cyprus solution and added that it could provide economic and technical help for its implementation.

Kerry attended a dinner hosted by Lisa Buttenheim, the UN permanent representative in Cyprus.

The dinner was also attended by Anastasiades and Akinci and the United Nations special emissary in Cyprus, former Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide, who is facilitating the negotiations. Endit