US seeking ‘serious’ Mideast talks: Palestinian FM

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The U.S. wants to see “serious” negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"Negotiations would be based on explanations given by [Palestinian] President Mahmoud Abbas to U.S. envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt during their Tuesday meeting in Ramallah," the ministry said in a statement.

At that meeting, the ministry said, Abbas had briefed Greenblatt on Palestinian national aspirations, the daily suffering faced by the Palestinian people as a result of Israel’s decades-long occupation, and the “catastrophic risks” associated with continued Israeli settlement building.

The ministry went on to note that the Palestinian Authority was responsive to "the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to resolve the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution and achieve peace and security for the Palestinian and Israeli people".

Greenblatt visited the region earlier this week for a days-long visit, during which he met with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators collapsed in April 2014 over Israel's refusal to release Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.

Since then, all attempts to revive negotiations have failed, due mainly to Israel's insistence on continuing settlement construction on occupied Arab land.