John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas get together on Middle East peace, US Secretary of State John Kerry has met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in London, having earlier insisted Israelis and Palestinians were determined to pursue direct peace talks.
Mr Kerry met Mr Abbas at London's Ritz Carlton yesterday, the pair smiling and joking before holding a three-hour private meeting, their first talks since direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians began last month.
"They discussed the ongoing negotiations, how to intensify them, and how to ensure their success," a State Department statement said. "The secretary reiterated the importance of both sides taking steps to create an environment conducive to peacemaking and the ongoing commitment of the United States to playing an active facilitating role in the negotiations."
Since becoming Secretary of State in February, Mr Kerry has dedicated much of his energy to restarting peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which were frozen in September 2010.
After six trips to the region in four months, he met negotiators from both sides - Palestinian Saeb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni - in Washington on July 29 and 30.
Secret bilateral meetings, with and without the presence of US sponsors, were then held in Jerusalem last month and early this month.
During an earlier stop-off in Paris, Mr Kerry said he soon planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A State Department official, however, said it was premature to talk of trilateral talks.
Mr Kerry had earlier praised efforts to hold talks "despite tough decisions and despite pressure that exists on both sides".
"Both the Palestinians and Israelis have remained steadfast in their commitment to continuing the talks," Mr Kerry said in Paris after a meeting with Arab League officials.
A Palestinian official dismissed Mr Kerry's long-running efforts to broker peace last week, saying talks had been futile.
"Until now there has been no progress," the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Yasser Abed Rabbo told the Voice of Palestine radio. However, a US State Department official said yesterday the Palestinian official was "ignorant of what's happening in the negotiations".
"It's unhelpful to the negotiations for these unnamed and in some cases named officials to be coming out and characterising things that they know nothing about," he said.
Mr Kerry also met in Paris his Egyptian, Qatari and Saudi counterparts as part of efforts to engage the region in a solution. "Something we learnt in a previous effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is if you don't have key Arab players in on the take-off you cannot expect them to be in on the landing," the State Department official said.
Mr Kerry met Mr Abbas at London's Ritz Carlton yesterday, the pair smiling and joking before holding a three-hour private meeting, their first talks since direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians began last month.
"They discussed the ongoing negotiations, how to intensify them, and how to ensure their success," a State Department statement said. "The secretary reiterated the importance of both sides taking steps to create an environment conducive to peacemaking and the ongoing commitment of the United States to playing an active facilitating role in the negotiations."
Since becoming Secretary of State in February, Mr Kerry has dedicated much of his energy to restarting peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which were frozen in September 2010.
After six trips to the region in four months, he met negotiators from both sides - Palestinian Saeb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni - in Washington on July 29 and 30.
Secret bilateral meetings, with and without the presence of US sponsors, were then held in Jerusalem last month and early this month.
During an earlier stop-off in Paris, Mr Kerry said he soon planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A State Department official, however, said it was premature to talk of trilateral talks.
Mr Kerry had earlier praised efforts to hold talks "despite tough decisions and despite pressure that exists on both sides".
"Both the Palestinians and Israelis have remained steadfast in their commitment to continuing the talks," Mr Kerry said in Paris after a meeting with Arab League officials.
A Palestinian official dismissed Mr Kerry's long-running efforts to broker peace last week, saying talks had been futile.
"Until now there has been no progress," the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Yasser Abed Rabbo told the Voice of Palestine radio. However, a US State Department official said yesterday the Palestinian official was "ignorant of what's happening in the negotiations".
"It's unhelpful to the negotiations for these unnamed and in some cases named officials to be coming out and characterising things that they know nothing about," he said.
Mr Kerry also met in Paris his Egyptian, Qatari and Saudi counterparts as part of efforts to engage the region in a solution. "Something we learnt in a previous effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is if you don't have key Arab players in on the take-off you cannot expect them to be in on the landing," the State Department official said.
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