United Nations would remain committed to a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, an UN envoy said Thursday.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cyprus Michael Moller made the remarks while addressing the people who gathered in the UN Nicosia buffer zone to celebrate the International Day of Peace.

"The United Nations remain committed to a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, awaiting the leaders' response and the people's determination," Moller said.

The UN envoy also called on all Cypriots to show political will and determination in a bid to find a Cypriot solution to the Cypriot problem.

Commenting on the peace in the world, Moller said that last year world military expenditure reached 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars, 20 times more than annual spending on UN peacekeeping which is only 5 billion dollars.

The statistic showed that "peace costs less than war," Moller said, urging world leaders to take stock of the destruction their actions cause on the 25th International Day of Peace which was established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 to express the world's desire for peace.

Cyprus has been divided along the ethnic line since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

UN-sponsored efforts to reunite the island failed in April 2004 when the Greek Cypriots rejected a proposal by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, while the breakaway northern Cyprus recognized only by Turkey accepted the plan.

Source: Xinhua