Phone calls to the political leaders of Israel and Palestine were among John Kerry's first diplomatic duties as he bedded in to his new job as secretary of state this weekend.
Kerry told Mahmoud Abbas that he was "very interested in the peace process and aware of the economic hardships of the Palestinian people", according to Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabel Abu Rdeneh.
The man now tasked with carrying out President Barack Obama's overseas policy will visit the Middle East soon with talks planned with Abbas in a bid to "preserve the political path", Abu Rdeneh said. No time scale was set for the visit.
The State Department said Kerry had also spoken to Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday. The pair discussed the formation of the new government in the Knesset. They also "exchanged views" on the peace process, officials said.
The Middle East was not the only region being graced by a Kerry phone call this weekend.
America's top diplomat also received an update from Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, about the investigation into Friday's suicide bombing at the US embassy in Ankara.
He also contacted his counterpart in Canada, foreign minister John Baird, to discuss issues ranging from Iran and Mali to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would run from Canada to Texas.
Likewise America's neighbour to the south received a call, with Mexico's foreign minister, Jose Antonio Meade, giving the secretary of state an update on the deadly blast at the headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company.
In between the phone calls, Kerry, who was sworn in on Friday, replacing Hillary Clinton, found time to lunch with George Shultz, secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion