“We will not be part of a new fruitless negotiation process that will last for years, that will drag us out, that is without a schedule, that is open-ended,” Mustafa Akinci told reporters in capital Lefkosa after receiving his Prime Minister Tufan Erhurman.

Akinci said he expects to meet Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades “on a date that will not be far away”.

A meeting does not mean that a new negotiation process is going to start, he said.

“The new negotiation process will not be the same as the previous one.”

The UN sought a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella that could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.

The latest attempt to reunify the long-divided Mediterranean island ended in failure after two years of negotiations in 2017.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.