Eide

The president of Cyprus on Tuesday rebuked a United Nations envoy for speaking of a possible crisis over the ethnically divided country's search for offshore oil and gas, calling the remark "unacceptable" and a "threat" amid faltering reunification talks.

A United Nations official says ethnically divided Cyprus remains "very, very close" to an agreement to reunite the island despite a breakdown in talks last week.

The United Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Espen Barthe Eide, is scheduled to meet in Athens on Monday with Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots hold hands on Saturday as they gathered across the Ledras main crossing point inside the United Nations bufferzone in the divided capital of Nicosia, urging rival leaders of the two communities to "Unite Cyprus Now." The gathering was held after United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide called off talks with the rival leaders, dashing hopes that a solution could be found

The United Nations' envoy for divided Cyprus said on Friday he was ending a shuttle diplomacy bid to continue peace talks in Geneva because rival sides had failed to agree on conditions.

A United Nations envoy has said the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus are still "far apart" on holding a final peace summit next month that would aim for an overall deal reunifying the island as a federation.

President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades expressed on Sunday his regret over the fact that the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, appears to adopt positions expressed from one side in Cyprus, without listening first.

The president of Cyprus on Sunday criticized a UN envoy for perceived bias and undue haste amid troubled talks aimed at reunifying the ethnically divided Mediterranean island.

Both sides of the island of Cyprus now have "the best chance" for a unification agreement, even though the dispute over gas exploration and an upcoming election on the Greek side have hampered the negotiations, UN special envoy Espen Barth Eide said.  "These are very crucial times for Cyprus itself, and also all the interested countries like Turkey and Greece," Eide told an interview at the UN

The Cyprus peace talks, Greek-Turkish relations and Brexit will be the main topics of discussion between Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his British counterpart Boris Johnson, who arrives in Athens on Thursday for an official visit.