US: The US said yesterday an agreement on power-sharing in Cyprus was close, and vowed to press Turkish and Greek Cypriots to reach a deal to allow a united island to join the EU.
"I think it is time for all of us to put pressure on all sides to get a resolution to this difficult situation. It has gone on for so long, and I think we are getting close to a solution," the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said in Washington after meeting the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul.
The UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, meeting the Greek Cypriot President, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, for talks in Brussels yesterday, has been pressing both sides to revive talks to get a deal before the island joins the EU on May 1st.
Both Mr Powell and Mr Annan rejected a Turkish bid for direct US mediation yesterday, but the UN chief left the door ajar for a broader multi-party effort to clinch a deal.
Mr Powell said he would involve himself personally in finding a solution to the conflict.