Zeenews Bureau
Paris: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday the talks with the Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas here was ‘productive’.
According to news reports, all sides seek a way to kick start moribund Middle East peace talks.
During the "candid and productive meeting," Clinton said they "discussed how to build on his exchange of letters" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I underscored that the United States remains absolutely committed to the goal of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on two states with two peoples based on peace and security," Clinton told reporters.
She met with Abbas on the sidelines of a Friends of Syria meeting being hosted in Paris, where more than 100 nations and organisations came together to step up pressure on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"At a time of upheaval across the region we cannot lose sight of the critical importance of resolving this issue," Clinton said.
The talks were the first face-to-face meeting between Abbas and Clinton since September 2011, when they met in New York as the Palestinians submitted their bid to join the United Nations as full member.
First Published: Saturday, July 07, 2012, 00:18