NICOSIA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has set a three-month deadline for the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to agree on the terms of reference for the restarting of negotiations to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday.

Anastasiades, who represents the Greeks of Cyprus, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are currently engaged in negotiations with an envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to agree the modalities for kick-starting the negotiations after a hiatus of 17 months.

The envoy, Jane Holl Lute, a UN official, has already visited Nicosia and is expected to be back soon for further consultations.

"The deadline starts since her visit, or rather, she had set a time limit until the end of December to agree on the terms of reference (of the talks) so as to submit a report to the Secretary General to help him decide if the conditions are there for restarting the negotiations," Anastasiades said.

Asked whether it would be feasible to clarify the terms of reference for the talks, Anastasiades replied: "If there is a sensible approach by all, why not?"

Turkey, which has a treaty role, along with Greece and the United Kingdom, to guarantee the constitutional order in Cyprus, occupied its northern part in 1974, following a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.

Negotiations since then have failed to reach an agreement on how to reunify the island in a federal state.