US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she held “productive” talks with Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she held “productive” talks with Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas  in Paris.

During the "candid and productive meeting," Clinton said they "discussed how to build on his exchange of letters" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I underscored that the United States remains absolutely committed to the goal of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on two states with two peoples based on peace and security," Clinton told reporters.
The Secretary of State met Abbas on the sidelines of the so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting hosted in the French capital.

"At a time of upheaval across the region we cannot lose sight of the critical importance of resolving this issue," Clinton said.
The talks were the first face-to-face meeting between Abbas and Clinton since September 2011, when they met in New York as the Palestinians submitted their bid to join the United Nations as a full member.

For his part, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Abbas had explained to Clinton that "the absence of any political perspective" was causing tensions among the Palestinians.

He said the PA Chief asked Clinton to press for the release of Palestinian prisoners, especially those held since before the 1993 Oslo Accords, Erakat told AFP by telephone from Paris.
Clinton is due in the Palestinian occupied Territories in mid July, when she is going to hold talks with Israeli officials.