A de facto partition of Cyprus will be the only option remaining if talks to reunify the island have not produced a settlement by the spring, the International Crisis Group warns in a report published on Wednesday.

A year of United Nations-brokered talks between Demetris Christofias, president of the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government of Cyprus, and Mehmet Ali Talat, his Turkish Cypriot counterpart and friend, have made only limited progress on the most controversial issues of property, security and power sharing.