Meanwhile, the Council recognised that tensions remained high near the buffer zone, although the number of serious incidents had decreased.

There was also concern about the strengthening of military weapons in southern Cyprus and the lack of progress in decreasing the number of foreign troops.

In this regard, the Council urged the Republic of Cyprus to cut back on defence spending and withdraw foreign troops, with an overall view to demilitarising the entire island.

[2] In Paragraph 13, the resolution "welcomes the efforts of the United Nations and others concerned to promote the holding of bi-communal events so as to build trust and mutual respect between the two communities, urges that these efforts be continued, acknowledges the recent cooperation from all concerned on both sides to that end, and strongly encourages them to take further steps to facilitate such bi-communal events and to ensure that they take place in conditions of safety and security".

The resolution concluded by reiterating that the status quo was unacceptable and for negotiations to take place to find a solution, and directing the Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report back to the council by 10 December 1997 on the implementation of the current resolution.