[뉴욕=신화통신/] 버락 오바마 미국대통령은 팔레스타인 임시정부 마무드 아바스 대통령에게 21일(수) 유엔에서 팔레스타인인들이 유엔회원국 승인을 받으려는 시도에 대해 반대한다고 말했다.

“우리들은 유엔 안전보장이사회에서 어떤 행동에 대해서든 반대해야 할지 모르는데, 필요하다면 거부권 행사도 할 수 있다”고 유엔총회장 내에서 양국대통령 회담이 있은 직후에 벤 로드스 백악관 국가안보부보좌관이 기자들에게 발표했다.

오바마 대통령은 아바스대통령이 23일(금) 유엔총회에서 연설한 직후 제청할 것으로 보이는 유엔회원국 가입신청서를 반기문 유엔사무총장에게 제출하지 말 것을 요청했다고 로드스 부보좌관은 덧붙였다.
 

(이하 신화통신 원문 참조)
 

NEW YORK, Sep. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that Washington opposes the Palestinian attempt to seek statehood at the UN and would use its veto power when necessary.

"We would have to oppose any action at the UN Security Council including, if necessary, vetoing," Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor at the White House, told reporters after the two presidents met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Rhodes added that Obama urged Abbas not to tender a letter of application for full UN membership to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a move expected to take place right after Abbas addresses the General Assembly on Friday.

The Palestinians will not accept a delay on a UN vote on their statehood, said Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Abbas.

"We will not allow any political maneuvering on this issue," he said at a press conference on Wednesday at the UN, arguing that the statehood bid is the only 　　　　　alternative to violence.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who 　　　　　joined Obama in the meeting with Abbas, was scheduled to hold separate talks with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening.

In his meeting with Netanyahu earlier in the day, Obama said that peace cannot be imposed on the parties, but has to be negotiated.

In his address to the General Assembly on Wednesday morning, Obama said that he still believes the Palestinian people deserve "a state of their own," but opposes the Palestinians' unilateral move for statehood.

"Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN," he said. "If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now."

Acknowledging that he is "frustrated" as many others by the lack of progress, Obama said he is convinced that "there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades."