The outlook for resolving the long-running dispute on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus looks promising given recent events, including last week’s announcement by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders that they will hold full-fledged talks in early September, a senior United Nations envoy said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Georgian and Abkhaz sides to preserve the integrity of their ceasefire regime, noting that the last four months have witnessed a resurgence of tensions between the two sides.

The situation in Kosovo has changed fundamentally in the past few months and events on the ground have contributed to creating a “profoundly new operating reality” for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission there (UNMIK), the world body’s top official in Kosovo told the Security Council today.

Security Council reform topped the agenda during talks between General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, held in New York yesterday.