Liberman with Danish Foreign Minister Martin
Liberman with Danish Foreign Minister MartinHadas Parush/Flash 90

Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard, who arrived on a visit to Israel on Monday, condemned Israel’s announcement of new construction in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem, reports i24news.

According to the report Lidegaard's condemnation came ahead of a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.

Later, in a joint conference with Liberman, Lidegaard said that he condemns the construction of the housing units because it "hinder(s) negotiations and the two-state solution."

According to i24news, deflecting criticism regarding Israel's conduct, Lieberman said that "(Israel is) facing more and more challenges, more than all of the (European Union) together. It is impossible to compare what happens in Israel and around us. We are keeping the situation under control, with all the frictions with the Palestinians."

However, despite the tense timing, Israeli and Danish officials who were present at the Lidegaard-Lieberman meeting as friendly and even "cozy", according to the report.

Denmark also stated it will not follow Sweden's path and recognize a Palestinian state, but will rather instead continue supporting negotiations towards a two-state solution, noted i24news.

Earlier Monday, Israel’s construction announcement was condemned by the State Department in Washington, which called the decision “unfortunate”.

"It is unfortunate that after the unequivocal and unanimous position last week of the international community opposing construction in Jerusalem at this sensitive time, authorities chose to advance [tenders]," State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez stated Monday.

"We continue to engage at the highest levels with the Israeli government to make our position absolutely clear that we view settlement activity as illegitimate and unequivocally oppose unilateral steps that prejudge the future of Jerusalem."