- PARIS: France’s foreign minister says his country is still working to get Mideast peace talks restarted before the United Nations is confronted with a decision over whether to recognize a Palestinian state.
Alain Juppe said on Europe-1 radio Tuesday that “the status quo is untenable. The only way to settle the Israeli-Palestinian problem is direct negotiations.”
Juppe said that France has failed to get a timetable for new peace talks but it won’t stop trying.
Juppe, who is in New York, met Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is pressing ahead with his diplomatic campaign to gain full UN membership despite Israeli objections and a threat of US veto.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet Abbas later Tuesday.
