VIENNA, July 25 (AFP) - Swiss President Joseph Deiss on Sunday met with his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer on the sidelines of the Salzburg music festival, for talks on the European Union, the Middle East and Iraq.
Switzerland and Austria agreed that issues such as Israel's controversial West Bank barrier and the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories can only be resolved at a meeting of all interested parties, Deiss said.
"Unless we can bring together all interested parties -- last time Israel and the United States were absent -- I am very sceptical," he told journalists at a joint press conference with Fischer.
Switzerland has been trying to convene a meeting of all signatories to the Geneva Conventions to discuss the Middle East conflict.
The United Nations is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution calling on Israel to heed a court ruling to tear down part of the West Bank barrier.
The two presidents told journalists they had also discussed the neutrality of their two countries, saying neither envisioned a change in position.
Fischer, who took up his post just over two weeks ago, replaced Thomas Klestil who died two days before the end of his second term in office.