UN envoy visiting Cyprus in bid to restart peace talks

United Nations special envoy Jane Holl Lute was headed to the divided island of Cyprus on Saturday, where she will hold separate meetings with the leaders of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish-occupied north aimed at restarting stalled peace talks.

Lute will meet with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiadis at 11 a.m. on Sunday and later with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

The Cyprus Mail reported that the former US deputy secretary of homeland security may also hold follow-up meetings with the two leaders before her departure on Monday.

Anastasiadis and Akinci agreed during an informal meeting on August 9 to continue UN-brokered talks aimed at relaunching negotiations for unifying the divided island.

Lute's visit this weekend is seen as preparing the ground for tripartite talks later in September.