Kerry says US made no ‘determinations’ on Palestinian resolution

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US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the United States had made “no determinations” about any possible UN Security Council resolutions on Palestinian statehood.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he had sought reassurances from Kerry that Washington would block efforts by Palestinians and Europeans to set a time frame for a Palestinian statehood.

Jordan has circulated a Palestinian-drafted resolution to the 15-member council calling for Israeli occupation of Palestinian land to end by November 2016.

“We’ve made no determinations about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that,” Kerry told reporters during a visit to London.

“This isn’t the time to detail private conversations or speculate on a UN Security Council resolution that hasn’t even been table no matter what pronouncements are made publicly about it.”

He said they were mindful they had to “carefully calibrate” any steps that were taken and it was “imperative to lower the temperature” in the region to find a path for peace wanted by both Israelis and Palestinians.

“The status quo is unsustainable for both parties,” he said. “Right now what we are trying to is have a constructive conversation with everybody to find the best way to go forward.”