Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis reiterated on Wednesday that the Cyprus issue can be and should be solved only in one shot with careful preparations.

After meeting with visiting President of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek premier told reporters that "we cannot afford the luxury of a new failure."

Karamanlis, who was briefed on Papadopoulos's recent meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the meeting was a positive development for the resumption of efforts to solve the Cyprus issue.

He also stressed the need for careful preparation.

Efforts for a Cyprus solution should progress with careful steps based on a well-prepared process, without pressing deadlines or arbitration, so as to achieve "a just and viable solution, based on UN decisions and resolutions and the new European reality," Karamanlis said.

The prime minister said his talks with Papadopoulos covered the latest developments in the Cyprus issue in detail, as well as the prospects arising following Papadopoulos's meeting with Annan.

"It now lies with Turkey to show the same spirit of cooperation," he added.

He also welcomed the decisions made recently by the European Union (EU) concerning the regulations for economic assistance to Turkish-Cypriots, noting that the Austrian presidency's proposal contained points of great interest to the Cyprus Republic.

On his part, commenting on Turkey's implementation of custom protocol, Papadopoulos said the European Commission's report in 2006 will refer to Turkey's progress toward EU entry, and will reiterate that Turkey has an obligation to meet the EU demands.

On the positions of the US State Department concerning direct trade with the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, he said that "the Americans wrongly believe that they can bring about reunification (of Cyprus) through direct trade with the Turkish-Cypriots."

Papadopoulos, who arrived in Athens on a working visit Tuesday evening, also met Greek President Karolos Papoulias and held talks with Greek leaders of political parties.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2006)