ATHENS – Greece’s National Council on Foreign Policy (NCFP) will meet Dec. 23 to talk about the ongoing Cyprus unity talks, the Foreign Ministry said.

The council will meet under Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, the statement said. Greece, along with Turkey and the United Kingdom, is a guarantor of security on the island divided since an unlawful invasion in 1974 by Turkey, which still occupies the northern third.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said Nicosia expected Turkey to take steps toward a unity settlement, especially during negotiations Jan. 9-11 he will have in Geneva, Switzerland with Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

Anastasiades said “remarkable progress” had been made, belying his earlier statements that Akinci wasn’t willing to give back to Cypriots enough property and territory stolen by Turks, leading to a collapse of the talks earlier in a Swiss resort.