Q: Mr. Secretary, the US thinks that there should not be really inspections before a resolution. Officials have talked about thwarting inspections –using that type of language. What is your sense?

SG: Well, I think the [Security] Council will be hearing from Mr. [Hans] Blix [Executive Chairman, UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission] this morning and I'm just going up to meet with Mr. Blix and [Mr. Mohamed] El Baradei [Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency] who have just come from Vienna. Blix, until now, has been guided by approved Security Council resolutions. If the Council were to pass a new resolution giving him fresh guidelines, he will have to factor that in before he continues with his work. It would be up to the Council today or the coming week to determine what the next stage would be. Of course, they are discussing a new resolution which may be passed. But Blix, in the meantime, continues his preparations.

Q: Normally, it would be a Council matter, but you are involved, you're named, you're the MOU. So do you think there's enough to allow the inspections to continue and let other things take care of themselves on the side?

SG: I think from the discussions Blix had in Vienna, there is a basis to go forward. But the Council is discussing whether or not the regime should not be tightened and strengthened to ensure that we don't repeat some of the weaknesses of the past. And I'm waiting to see how the discussions come out. And I think it is legitimate that the Council should be discussing these issues. But the focus is on disarmament.

Q: Sir, are the talks going to continue if Cyprus joins the European Union?

SG: We are going to meet with the two leaders this morning. And I hope that we, first of all, I'm going to assess what progress has been made since we last met in Paris, and what we need to do to accelerate the process. We're going to try and do as much as we can to come to an understanding and bring the talks to closure, at least come to agreement on the core issues by the end of the year. That is the target. If we miss that, obviously, we will have to find ways of bringing it to closure beyond that date. But I hope we can do it before the end of the year.

Q: Is there any new element or tactic that you plan to bring up in the Cyprus talks today to move things forward?

SG: They may have some tactics and surprises for me. [Laughter.]