Britain said it was ready to give up nearly half of the territory covered by its two military bases in Cyprus to help smooth a peace settlement between the island's ethnic Greeks and Turks.
"The UK has agreed to cede part of its sovereign base areas, consisting of 45 sq miles (115 sq km) -- just under half the total area of the sovereign base areas," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
The proposed move would have "no adverse impact" on the functioning of the bases, she said.
Britain currently retains 98 square miles (250 square km) of Cypriot territory spread out into two sovereign base areas on the southern coast. There are about 3,500 British forces on the bases.