Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority could start this month, the European Union's foreign policy chief wrote to EU foreign ministers Thursday in a letter seen by the German Press Agency dpa.
The two sides began indirect peace talks in spring, with US envoy George Mitchell mediating, but the move to direct talks has proved elusive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure from Israel and the US, in particular, to agree to talks.
"President Abbas is very close to accepting direct talks, but has requested a few more days for final consultations ... In principle, (he) should be in a position to give a definitive answer by Sunday or early next week," Catherine Ashton wrote.
If Abbas agrees to direct talks on terms which Israel also accepts, "direct negotiations would be launched later in August," she wrote.
Ashton is the EU's highest diplomatic figure and has been in regular contact with Abbas, Mitchell and the so-called Middle East negotiating Quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
The Quartet has been working on a statement "to be issued concurrently with the announcement of the launch of direct talks" as part of a bid to "overcome the remaining Palestinian objections to agree to direct talks," she wrote.
Ashton has been personally involved in drafting the statement, her letter said.
Ashton's estimate of the time it might take to start talks chimes with a statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on August 1.
Netanyahu said that he expected talks to begin within two weeks, after indirect contacts had created a "convenient climate" for negotiations.
EU foreign ministers are set to hold an informal meeting in Brussels on September 10 and 11.