PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Photo: wiki commons.

Following his Wednesday meeting in Ramallah with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is “stalled because of the intransigent position of the Israeli government.”

The Palestinian news agency WAFA released a statement of Abbas that accused Israel of “refusing to adhere to the agreements signed between the two sides and the terms of reference of the peace process, to halt settlement activity and release prisoners arrested before 1994.”

Abbas stressed during his meeting with Burns that “the resumption of [peace] negotiations requires pressure on the Israeli government to implement its commitment to halt settlement activities, including in Jerusalem, and to accept the principle of a two-state solution,” according to the statement.

Burns met with senior Israeli officials on Thursday for strategic talks on Iran and other Middle East issues.