CRI听力:US Urges Abbas to Quicken Palestine-Israel Peace Deal

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sat down for talks with US President Barack Obama at the White House.

Obama has told Abbas it will require "tough" political decisions and risks to achieve peace in, what he has described as, "challenging" Israeli-Palestinian talks.

"As I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was here just a couple of weeks ago, I believe now is the time for, not just the leaders of both sides, but also the peoples of both sides to embrace this opportunity, but, we are going to have a lot of details that we are going to have to discuss. It's very hard, it's very challenging, we are going to have to take some tough political decisions and risks if we are able to move it forward."

For his part, Abbas has told Obama the Palestinian side is working for a solution "based on international legitimacy."

But while not specifically mentioning the Israeli demand for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas notes his side has recognized "the state of Israel" for over 20-years.

The Obama administration has been pressing both sides to enter into framework agreement which would eventually pave the way for a permanent peace deal.

However, little headway has been made in the US-brokered negotiations, which were renewed last summer after a 3-year break.

The current mandate for this round of negotiations is due to expire in April.

Most Palestinian factions, including Abbas' PLO, have called on the Palestinian leadership to let the window close, saying the proposals being put forward are still too slanted toward Israeli demands.