The United States said on Monday that conditions on Cyprus are right to move the divided Mediterranean island forward towards negotiations on a settlement after years of stalemate.
"The stars are aligning for progress and I hope that we can make it," US State Department official Daniel Fried told reporters after he crisscrossed the UN-patrolled buffer zone that divides the island for talks with rival Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders ahead of their crunch meeting on July 25.
He will now report back to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the "impressive progress" made so far.
"My bottom line assessment will be that we need to get ready because there's a real chance that we will be moving forward again in a way we haven't for some time," said Fried.
"This time the world has a real shot of movement towards a solution," he added.
Last week, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed in principle on the issues of single citizenship and sovereignty in a reunified island, two key stumbling blocks to holding fully-fledged talks.
They agreed to meet on July 25 when they will undertake a "final review" of preparatory negotiations before the launch of fully-fledged talks.
Fried said that Washington was "actively" seeking to appoint a US envoy for Cyprus once peace talks get off the ground.
The US believes that with two pro-settlement leaders heading negotiations, the mix couldn't be better for brokering a long elusive deal.
"The time has not been so favourable in many years for a settlement. Two leaders are committed to a settlement, the people of Cyprus... are ready for a settlement," he said.
"Time will not improve things, so I hope things can move forward and we can see negotiations and progress towards a settlement as soon as possible."
Christofias was elected president in February on a platform of reviving reunification talks which had gone nowhere under his hardline predecessor Tassos Papadopolous.
But initial euphoria about the prospects for a Cyprus settlement has dampened with both sides finding the going sluggish at the committee level over the sensitive issues of property, territory, sovereignty and security.
On March 21, the two leaders reached a landmark agreement to enter fully-fledged peace talks after four years of virtual stalemate following the 2004 rejection by Greek Cypriots of a UN reunification blueprint.
They met again in May and decided to review progress made by technical committees.
The Greek Cypriots are adamant that real progress at the committee stage must be achieved if face-to-face talks are to have any chance of success, while the Turkish Cypriots say any difficulties can be resolved at the negotiating table.
The Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.
