According to diplomatic sources, Greece and "its allies" have managed to block a United States and Britain-supported Security Council initiative which allegedly stipulated Turkey and Greece meet and discuss the Cyprus issue and eventually agree on an official diplomatic compromise solution, both in political, as well as economic, terms.

The statement of the Security Council presidency allegedly stated that the initiative supported an official visit by Ibrahim Gambari, the undersecretary general of the United Nations for political affairs, in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, to mediate the political, economic and territorial claims stated in the Cyprus affair. Gambari's role was also intended to bring about a potential reunification process.

It has been speculated upon the fact that the European Union also had an interest in the technical talks as well as in the United Nations support, in the sense that it wanted to use them as methods of providing aid and trade agreements to the Turkish Cypriots.

However, Greece, aided by Russia and France, some American diplomats claimed, managed to hinder the release of the Security Council statement. On one hand, it is a widely known the fact that Russia has been quite close to Greece and Greek Cypriots in political and economic fields. On the other hand, France is known for its rejection of Turkey's accession to the European Union. "That presidency statement would have helped Gambari, and it didn't happen. So it's more difficult for Gambari now to return from the region with a tangible result", one analyst was quoted to have said.

Nevertheless, both Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Mehmet Ali Talat and Tassos Papadopulous held a landmark 90 minute meeting yesterday at the Nicosia headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force to discuss about Cyprus and they agreed to meet again, although no specific date was set.

The main problem of Greece and Turkey over Cyprus is related to the fact that the latter is split between the two, both politically and economically. Two referenda conducted by the United Nations in 2004 in Cyprus, on matters of reunification, displayed the fact that while Turkish Cypriots approved the idea, the majority of Greek Cypriots did not and thus, the divide is likely to linger on.