(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) LONDON, Aug 8 (KUNA) -- US Vice President JD Vance said Friday that his country has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Vance made the remarks to reporters at the start of a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Southern England.
Britain and the United States may disagree about how to address the crisis in Gaza but they share common goals in the region.
When asked about Britain's plan to recognize Palestine, Vance said the US and Britain had a common goal to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, adding: "we may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we'll talk about that today."
The difference in approach to the war in Gaza is among the issues being discussed by Vance and Lammy.
"I don't know what it would mean to really recognize a Palestinian state, given the lack of a functional government there," Vance added.
The vice-president said the US administration wanted to see Hamas eradicated so Israeli civilians were not attacked again, but also to solve the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza.
Lammy said he was concerned about Israel's intention to take over more of Gaza.
The foreign secretary said: "What we all want to see is a ceasefire, what we all want to see are the hostages come out.
"We are hugely concerned by the humanitarian suffering that we are seeing in Gaza particularly."
The other major area for discussion this weekend is Ukraine and the possibility of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict.
Britain, by contrast, has taken a harder stance against Israel, declaring its intention to recognize Palestine along with France and Canada to put pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the continuing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (end)
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