France's Macron says to recognize Palestinian state "at right time"

PARIS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said he would recognize a Palestinian state "at the right time," reiterating Paris' commitment to a two-state solution for lasting peace in the region.

"Is unilateral decision to recognize Palestine effective? I do not believe, because it would be a reaction to an unilateral decision that has caused unrest in the region," he told reporters.

"I will do it at the right time when I judge it will be useful to build peace on the ground and not... under pressure," he added at a joint press conference with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas denounced the United States' "partisan spirit" in handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stressing that Washington "disqualified itself" from the Middle East peace process due to its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"The United States are no longer an honest mediator in the peace process, we will not accept any plan put forward by the United States," Abbas said.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump broke with decades of Washington policy by acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He decided to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city which has been a sensitive issue in peace talks and the main subject of disagreement between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators for decades.

In 1967, Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan and declared the whole city as its eternal indivisible capital in 1980. But, it has not been recognized by the international community.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians insist that they should establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the final settlement.

The last direct peace negotiations, brokered by the United States, stopped in April 2014 as rival camps failed to come out with tangible results due to differences on major issues like settlement, security, borders and the recognition of a Palestinian state. Enditem