Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday reiterated that his government would only enter direct peace negotiations with Israel if there is "progress" made on main issues during the indirect talks, dpa reported.
Abbas told Voice of Palestine Radio in a special interview from the African Union summit in Uganda that direct talks with Israel would first need "clear and specific references," adding "without it, the talks would collapse at the very beginning."
He stressed that the Palestinians will launch the direct negotiations "only if progress is made in the issues of security, borders and the freeze of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem."
Abbas also expressed readiness to meet face-to-face with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "if references for the talks are specified."
For the Palestinians, those references include Israel's recognition of the principle of a two-state solution and its suspension of settlement activities.
The Israeli and Palestinian governments have set a four-month period to hold indirect talks sponsored by the United States, which is to end in September.
The US administration of Barack Obama and the European Union have asked both sides to go for direct negotiations. The foreign ministers of the Arab League are set to meet Thursday in Cairo to consider giving support to direct talks.
"The entire world is asking us to go for direct negotiations, but going to negotiations without a clear reference might make them collapse from the first moment," Abbas said.