María Ángela Holguín's interview with Politis substantially changes the picture that has been projected in recent months regarding the Cyprus issue.
The convening of a new enlarged conference is neither automatic nor guaranteed. More importantly, the preliminary consent of the parties involved is not, on its own, sufficient to bring them back around the same table.
The UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy sets out three clear preconditions.
First, regular and direct contact between the two leaders.
Second, concrete progress on Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs).
Third, substantive work on both the content and methodology of a new negotiating process.
This is politically significant because it contradicts the impression cultivated by the government that the enlarged conference was effectively secured and that CBMs were not a prerequisite for its convening.
Holguín is saying something different and far more demanding: the United Nations is not interested in organising yet another conference simply to demonstrate diplomatic activity.
It wants tangible evidence beforehand that there is a realistic basis for producing results.
The UN does not want another photograph of the leaders and the guarantor powers gathered around a table.
It wants groundwork.
That means moving from the diplomacy of announcements to the diplomacy of deliverables.
And that is where the difficult part begins.
Because both Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhürman, if they genuinely want talks and a resolution to the Cyprus problem, must now demonstrate in practice that they can bridge differences, reach agreement on CBMs and, above all, establish how and from where a new negotiating process will begin.
Holguín's message is also a warning.
The international community does not appear willing to invest political capital once again in a process that lacks serious prospects of success.
Consequently, the enlarged conference is not the starting point of a new effort.
It is the first prize.
And before the two sides can reach it, they will first have to pass the test set by the United Nations itself.
