US Ambassador to UN: Trump supports "two-state" solution

Newly appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, stated on Thursday that the US still supports the two-state solution in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She made this statement a day after Trump suggested he was open to new ideas on how to achieve peace, Reuters reports, as carried by Patria.

- First of all, we support the two-state solution. Anyone who says the US does not support the two-state solution is mistaken, Haley told reporters at the UN. "We absolutely support the two-state solution, but we are also thinking outside the box, and that is what it takes to bring the two sides to the negotiating table; what they need to agree on," Haley added.

Her statement came after Trump said on Wednesday that he was open to ideas beyond the two-state framework, which Washington and the international community have long worked towards to reach an agreement between Israel and Palestine.

- I am looking at the two-state and one-state (solutions), and I like the solution that both sides choose, Trump said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump also said that the US will work towards peace, but that they are leaving it up to the two sides to ultimately decide on the terms of the agreement. Such an agreement, Trump said, requires compromise from both Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump's announcement somewhat shook the main pillar of US Middle East policy, dating back three administrations, which is based on the premise of a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.

Haley reiterated Trump's stance regarding Washington's role, which will not impose a solution because it must come from the conflicting parties.

- The solution that will bring peace to the Middle East must come from the Israelis and the Palestinian administration, Haley said. "The US will only be there to support the process."

Haley, a Republican who previously served as Governor of South Carolina, also criticized the UN and the Security Council for what she called bias against Israel.

She described the Security Council meeting on the Middle East as "focused on criticizing Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East."

She added that the US will not support UN resolutions like the one from December calling for a halt to Israeli settlement construction, which passed only because the administration of Barack Obama did not use its veto.

French and British diplomats emphasized that they would not change their long-held stance:

- Great Britain still believes that the best solution for peace in the Middle East is the two-state solution, said British Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned during a visit to Cairo on Wednesday that there is no other viable way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict except by establishing a Palestinian state that will coexist with Israel.