“The UN has high expectations for a settlement (in Cyprus) and I believe this momentum must be kept up,” Ban said in Athens ahead of talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

“My Cyprus envoy Mr Alexander Downer will continue to talk together with the leaders of the two communities,” the UN secretary general added.

Ban said he felt there was a “strong effort to facilitate this process “ on both sides and find a solution to the 35-year-old dispute.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have been locked in UN-brokered negotiations over the island’s reunification for over a year.

While Christofias’ administration is internationally recognised, Talat’s Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is only recognised by Turkey.

The Turkish Cypriots, backed by Ankara, want a settlement by the end of the year or early 2010 and are calling on the UN and Western powers to intervene to end the diplomatic deadlock.

But Cyprus President Christofias told a Turkish newspaper on Tuesday that he did not expect any breakthrough before December.

The Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.