Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, has said his country could not accept a "complete" freeze on settlement building in the West Bank, despite US calls to do so.
Lieberman rejected a renewed call by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, to halt construction on Palestinian land, following talks between the two in Washington on Wednesday.
"We cannot accept this vision about an absolutely complete freezing of settlements," he told a news conference.
Lieberman insisted that "we had some understandings with the previous administration, and we [will] try to keep this direction,'' referring to an alleged acceptance by George Bush, the former US president, that natural growth would be sanctioned.
Clinton, however, rejected this, saying that there were no records of such an agreement.
"As President Obama, Senator Mitchell and I have said, we want to see a stop to the settlements," she said.
About 500,000 Jews live in more than 200 settlements and outposts set up across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories which were captured from Jordan in 1967.
'Critical concerns'
Clinton said George Mitchell, the US administration's Middle East envoy, would have more discussions on "critical concerns" during forthcoming talks with Israel.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is set to meet Mitchell in Europe next week to try to hammer out an agreement, Israeli officials said.
Media reports said on Wednesday that the US could allow some building within existing settlements, while demanding a ban on new tenders as part of an overall settlement freeze.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera he was pleased that Clinton has reiterated the US demand on settlements, but was worried by reports that a deal could be agreed between the US and Israel.
Erekat said he believed that Lieberman and Netanhayu would tell the US that home-building within settlements that had already begun could not be stopped.
"The Israelis are speaking about natural growth for illegal settlements but there is no such thing as natural growth for Palestinians. They are demolishing people's homes in East Jerusalem, throwing people out of there and this should stop."
Lieberman's visit, during which he will also meet senior US politicians, including Democratic senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, follows remarks by Mitchell in which he said he hoped that full peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis could begin within weeks.
PHOTO CAPTION
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks during a joint news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not pictured, after their meeting at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.
Al-Jazeera