WASHINGTON, September 30, 2010 (WAFA)-  Israel must extend its recently expired West Bank building moratorium if stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority can have any chance of resuming, the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said following a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.

The Israeli daily Haaretz said that the Comments by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy came as she announced a surprise visit to Israel and the PA in what seemed as another last ditch attempt to put the recently stalled direct Mideast peace talks back on track.

Speaking following her meeting with Clinton in Washington, Ashton reiterated the importance she saw in extending Israel's settlement freeze, saying that 'more than anything, we would like to see, of course, the moratorium on settlement building continue,' adding she would like to 'see the opportunity for President Abbas to stay in the talks and for them to move forward to a successful conclusion.'

To work toward that end, Ashton said, parties will have to do what they can 'to do our part in that, and also talking about the work we’ve been doing to support the building of the Palestinian state, which is an imperative if we’re going to see success as the outcome of the talks.'

'For me, my focus for the rest of today and tomorrow is going to turn to the Middle East, Having been in discussion with the Secretary and with Senator Mitchell, I will travel overnight through Europe to the Middle East to have meetings with Senator Mitchell, President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Prime Minister Fayyad to see what we can do to support the efforts to keep the talks moving,' the EU's foreign policy chief said.

Ashton's remarks came as U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Clinton, were engaged in intense efforts to find a solution to the crisis in the peace talks caused by the expiration earlier this week of Israel's ten-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.