India says there is no need for outside mediation, and most potential mediators have so far agreed.
But the Greek-Cypriot leader still finds it hard to swallow the idea of giving the Turkish Cyprus some form of prior recognition, even if as mediating diplomats have suggested it is called merely an "entity .The mediators still hope that the prospect of both Turkey and Cyprus joining the EU could break the jam.
It has taken more than 40 years, an army of mediators and several near-misses, but there is genuine hope that when the leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus resume peace talks on Friday, one of the west's longest-running diplomatic disputes can finally be resolved.
According to leaks, an outline agreement proposed by Egyptian mediators included the opening of crossings between Israel and Gaza, the import of construction materials under international supervision and the expansion of the permitted fishing zone to 12 miles over a period of six months.
"British negativism is overwhelming, along with its lack of respect for the role of mediators".
A group of international mediators led by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan formally called on the armed Basque group Eta to lay down arms on Monday, in a key step in ending decades of terrorism in Spain.
But why should family-owned firms turn to business schools for succession advice rather than to lawyers, accountants, professional mediators or other external advisors?
And when Mr Lieberman recently again proposed swapping Jewish-populated lands for Arab ones, not only did Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, stay silent, but American mediators declared that the foreign minister had joined the peace camp of those seeking a two-state solution.
But most cling to their original dreams long after all possibility of attaining them has faded.Only when the fighters have been disillusioned, can mediators get to work and then only for a limited period.
Credit mediators and the like may make for nice headlines, but few in business hold out much hope that they will be able to do a lot of good.
But business is booming for the country's dozen or so expert commercial mediators, while the number of writs served in the commercial court has fallen sharply (see chart).The government is now planning new rules that will encourage public-sector managers to use mediation.
