Rival leaders working on peace talks for Cyprus acknowledged on Monday they had made insufficient progress, but said they would do their utmost to broker a deal as soon as possible.

Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat started the reunification talks in September.

The dispute over the island, split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup, harms Turkish aspirations of joining the EU and is a source of tension between Turkey and Greece.

"Looking back to our efforts ... we recognise that we still need to consider a long list of (negotiation) chapters," the two leaders said in a statement read out by Alexander Downer, a U.N. special envoy for Cyprus.

"Although some progress has been made it has been insufficient, but we assure you that we are resolved to do all in our power to reach a settlement as soon as possible," Downer said, flanked by the two leaders at a U.N. compound in Nicosia, Cyprus's divided capital.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island, with a population of about 1 million, live on separate sides. Greek Cypriots represent Cyprus in the EU, and the north part of Cyprus is a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.

Neither side sees permanent partition as an option and want a federation, but disagree on how it would work.

Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a deal, Downer said.

A settlement on Cyprus has eluded diplomats for decades, most recently in 2004 when the U.N. drew up a plan for a settlement that was put to referendums on both sides of the island. It was approved by the Turkish Cypriots but rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Any deal that the leaders broker in the present negotiations must also be put to a referendum.

Turkey started EU entry talks in late 2005. Those negotiations have been hobbled by its refusal to recognise Cyprus. The EU has frozen sections of its entry negotiations over Ankara's refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriots.