Jerusalem, Nov. 17 (ANI): The European Union has rejected the Palestinian Authority’s appeal to support its endorsement as an independent state by the United Nations.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU presidency, said: “The conditions are not there as of yet” for such a move.

Bildt added that the Palestinian plan was “clearly an act borne by a difficult situation where they don’t see any road ahead.”

The EU’s foreign ministers on Tuesday were discussing ways to coordinate with the United States to get Palestinians and Israelis back to peace talks, The Jerusalem Post reports. The EU’s rejection has come in the wake of the United States opposition to the Palestinian plan to pursue unilateral statehood.

“We support the creation of a Palestinian state,” US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters, but “we are convinced that has to be achieved through negotiations between two parties.” (ANI)