His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas efforts to overcome obstacles to restarting serious Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

Abbas also offered his condolences over the death of the King's maternal grandfather, Major General Walter Gardiner, who passed away in Amman on Wednesday.

The two leaders said that the solution to the conflict must address all final status issues in order to achieve progress towards the two-state formula in accordance with international terms of reference.

They underscored the need for unified international action to find practical and clear proposals to break the impasse in peace efforts and move towards a solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The meeting was attended by Royal Court Chief Nasser Lozi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Ayman Safadi and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, and senior Palestinian officials.

In remarks to the press after the meeting, Abbas said that coordination with Jordan at this stage is timely as the US is expected to declare its position in the coming few days.

Abbas also said that he was in Amman “to offer condolences to His Majesty King Abdullah”.