His Majesty King Abdullah’s meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday focused on bolstering Jordanian-US strategic partnership and cooperation and the latest developments in the Middle East.

The meeting also covered efforts to push the peace process forward, with King Abdullah stressing the need to relaunch serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations based on the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.

His Majesty reaffirmed that there is no alternative to the two-state solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, warning that failure to reach a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue will feed into the prevailing sense of frustration and lead to more violence.

The King also called for maintaining the historical status quo in Jerusalem, noting that attempts to change it will have negative consequences on the entire region.

Talks at the meeting touched on the latest developments in the Syrian crisis and efforts to ensure a lasting ceasefire in parallel with the work towards a political solution to the crisis based on the Geneva process. His Majesty also stressed the importance of cooperating with Russia over this issue.

In addition, discussions addressed the conditions in Iraq and efforts to bolster stability there, as well as regional and international efforts in the war on terror and terrorist groups based on a holistic strategy to counter their threat to global peace and security.

The meeting also tackled the assistance provided by the US to Jordan in order to enable it to implement development projects and cope with the repercussions of regional crises.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and Jordan’s Ambassador in Washington Dina Kawar attended the meeting.

Tillerson hosted a lunch banquet in honour of the King and the accompanying delegation.