US Secretary of State John Kerry who arrived in Paris for an official visit, met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to advance a potential two state solution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reaching an agreement to end the long-standing conflict is a key focus for the American top diplomat who has travelled extensively to the Middle East to meet leaders of Israel and the Palestinians. Kerry is not proposing any fixed date for potential negotiations at this point but has expressed hope of making progress to create, what he defines as, “the right conditions for a resolution.”
Secretary Kerry also held a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault to discuss a French-initiative aimed at advancing an Israeli-Palestinian peace process before a two-state-solution would become unviable. The meeting also focused on the situation in Syria after five-and-a-half years of a bloody-conflict that has claimed the lives of more than half a million people.