RAMALLAH, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians will declare the end of exploratory discussions with Israel after their sixth meeting in the Jordanian capital of Amman ends Wednesday, sources said.
On Tuesday night, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators held their fifth meeting in Amman, but failed to make any progress in reviving stalled peace talks between the two sides, an official at the negotiation affairs department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
By the end of the sixth meeting on Wednesday, "the Palestinian side will announce that the talks have ended according to the three-month ultimatum set by the Quartet," the official said.
The official said that Israel still rejects Palestinian demands to halt settlement building. "Thus, the Palestinian point of view is that the continuation of these discussions is useless," he said.
In September of 2011, the Quartet, consisting of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, suggested the exploratory talks to get peace negotiations back on track, which had been in a standstill since September 2010.
The exploratory discussions started on Jan. 23, mainly focusing on issues related to borders and security, as the Quartet believed that an agreement on these two aspects are the premise for a deal on other final-status issues.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki has said that the Palestinian leadership had not counted on the Amman meetings to bring in new results, but that the Palestinians would continue their efforts to obtain recognition from the United Nations despite the failure of peace talks.
Al-Maliki meanwhile said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would meet King Abdullah II of Jordan to asses the talks, but did not give a date.
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