The U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has said a year-end goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is still achievable, even though both sides question whether the target is realistic.

Rice made the comments after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has sounded increasingly pessimistic about reaching an agreement with the Israelis.

"President Bush believes strongly that the time has come for the establishment of a Palestinian state, subject of course to road map implementation, but that is why we're working so hard on the road map simultaneously with the negotiations, and we continue to believe it is an achievable goal to have an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis by the end of the year, and by the end of President Bush's term."

Abbas accuses Israel of undermining talks by continuing to build Jewish settlements on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state, and refusing to remove hundreds of military checkpoints that dot the West Bank.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert relaunched peace talks at a US-hosted conference last November and set a December 2008 target for a peace deal.

Their talks are to be based on the U.S.-backed "road map," a peace plan that sets out a phased process leading to the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

ABBAS said he believes the US is serious about achieving its goal, as three generals have been assigned to discuss important topics about statehood

"We need to reach a comprehensive agreement, this is the desire of all parties concerned, Americans, Israelis, Europeans and us. We are talking about a solution for all the main important topics. If we didn't reach an agreement, we have to think about what the next step will be. Now let's not think about failure. Let's focus on our work, and we can talk and think later."