After Mideast meetings, Kerry calls conflict 'unsustainable'

LONDON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Secretary of State John Kerry, following meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders said Tuesday, "The status quo is unsustainable for both parties and for the region."

Speaking to reporters from London on Tuesday, Kerry said that "all the leaders on both sides keep talking to me about how they want a safe and secure future, and obviously, more hope for their people. All of the reasons that we engaged so intensely one year ago, a little more than that, and all the reasons that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and President [Mahmoud] Abbas were willing to engage -- those reasons are even more compelling today."

Kerry met with Netanyahu on Monday and with Abbas on Tuesday. A proposed U.N. Security Council resolution setting a November 2016 deadline for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-sought land was expected to be a main point of discussion.

The draft resolution, proposed by Palestinian officials and backed by Jordan, would be submitted to the U.N. on Wednesday, Palestinian Liberation Organization official Hanna Amira told Bloomberg.

Kerry, however, refused to discuss the substance of his London meetings. "This isn't the time to detail private conversations or speculate on a U.N Security Council resolution that hasn't even been tabled, no matter what pronouncements are made publicly about it."

When asked about the U.S. position on the resolution, Kerry said Tuesday that "we've made no determinations .... about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that. We haven't made any determinations."