Kerry to Meet Palestinian Leader in Paris

FILE - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing Feb. 14, 2014.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet this week with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to try to push the Mideast peace process forward.

The U.S. State Department says the two will meet in Paris on Wednesday.

The secretary has spent months trying to get the two sides to agree on a framework to guide negotiations for resolving their long-running conflict.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in July after a three-year break but have made little visible progress.

During initial talks, Israel agreed to a prisoner release, while the Palestinians dropped their demand for Israel to stop settlement construction before talks are held.

Kerry is currently in the United Arab Emirates for talks on Syria, Iran and the Mideast peace process.