Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Tuesday expressed his support for a two-state solution during a meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, i24NEWS reported.
"We talked during our meeting about peace in the Middle East, and we know the situation is bad," Van der Bellen said.
Abbas said he had fruitful discussions with Van der Bellen, updating him about the "political impasse". He blamed the "Israeli government and its refusal to recognize the Palestinian state while it continues with its occupation of the Palestinian territories."
The PA chairman also took the opportunity to lash out at the US, saying that it "is no longer qualified to act as the sole mediator due to its bias toward Israel and its decisions against international law on Jerusalem, refugees and others."
Abbas again called for an international peace conference, saying, according to i24NEWS, "This is where the European Union and its member States can play an important role alongside the (UN) Security Council.”
"We will not participate in any international conference not based on United Nations resolutions," he added.
While the PA chairman claims he is ready to sit down for peace talks, he has continuously rejected Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s call to sit down for peace negotiations, and has instead chosen to impose preconditions on talks.
Abbas has also rejected the US peace plan being formulated by the Trump administration before it has even been unveiled.
The PA has been boycotting the US ever since President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017.
The Israel-PA peace process has been frozen since 2014, when Abbas breached conditions of talks that were ongoing at the time by unilaterally joining international treaties and conventions.