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Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, Nasser Judeh, met with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who briefed him on current peace talks with Israel and pledged to keep Jordan posted on the U.S.-sponsored negotiations.

Judeh reiterated Jordan's support of the Palestinian "brothers" in their negotiations and quest to set up their independent state on June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, stressing that Palestinian statehood is a higher Jordanian interest since all final status issues are tied to vital Jordanian interests.

Erekat said the Palestinian leadership and people highly appreciated Jordan's stances and strenuous efforts to bring about peace and establish a Palestinian state.

In a joint press conference with the senior Palestinian negotiator, Judeh reiterated that the Kingdom considers the Palestinian cause the central issue in the region regardless any "other events or developments", adding that failure to solve the Palestinian issue was behind violence and regional instability.

"A solution to the Palestinian issue, as envisaged by His Majesty the King, lies in the establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state on national Palestinian soil with East Jerusalem as its capital and within the framework of the two-state solution and according to international terms of reference, while taking into consideration the Arab Peace Initiative and international legitimacy", Judeh added.

The minister said King Abdullah was exerting intensive efforts in that respect, noting that the monarch had managed to bring the Palestinian issue to the front burner in a 2007 address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

He said the ongoing consultations between the King and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the last years were focused on launching direct peace talks to reinstate the Palestinians' rights and achieve the "goal we all aspired for".

Judeh also said that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had made six visits to the region over the past five months, which culminated in the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, noting that Kerry had broken the news from Amman and adding that a fourth round of talks will be held in the next few days.

Erekat pledged that the Palestinians will bring Jordan up-to-date on every detail of the negotiations with the Israelis, adding "all channels with Jordan will remain open".