WASHINGTON, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - Washington considers international recognition of Palestinian state premature, US Department of State Spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated at a press briefing Friday.
"We believe international recognition of a Palestinian state is premature," Psaki said during the briefing. "We certainly support Palestinian statehood but it can only come through a negotiated outcome, a resolution of final status issues and mutual recognition by both parties," Psaki said.
"I don't think that we've seen evidence that they're willing and able to either at this point in time," she concluded.
Sweden's new prime minister Stefan Lofven announced on Friday that Sweden may become the first European Union member to recognize the state of Palestine, noting that two-state solution is needed to resolve the Palestinian conflict.
Palestinians seek the creation of an independent state on the territories of the West Bank in East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and want Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly upgraded Palestine from an "observer entity" to a "non-member observer state" and affirmed the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.
Some EU member states, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have already recognized the state of Palestine, but they made the move before joining the union.
