Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ashtiyeh stressed on Tuesday the importance of separating Palestinian-US ties from the peace process.
"We want the US administration to be an honest broker and partner of peace," Ashtiyeh said.
"We must separate the Palestinian-American relations from the peace process … The stalemate of the peace process must not be met with punishment or blackmail from the American administration to the Palestinian people,” added the Prime Minister.
Ashtiyeh made his comments during the reception of US Senator Ron Wyden at his office in Ramallah.
The PM called on the US Congress to follow in the footsteps of many parliaments by voting to recognize the state of Palestine and lifting the ban imposed on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Last September, the administration of US President Donald Trump shut down the PLO’s Bureau in Washington within a series of procedures against the Palestinian Authority.
Ashtiyeh also renewed rejection of the US ‘Deal of the Century’, adding that the decisions taken by the US administration, including cutting US financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, are worse than what’s written in its upcoming peace plan.
"Talking about annexing parts of the West Bank under the so-called settlement blocs destroys the two-state solution and eliminates any chance of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders," Ashtiyeh said, according to WAFA news agency.
This was the first meeting between Ashtiyeh and a US official since he assumed his post earlier this month.
