Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the negotiations for a two-state solution, but that process must begin now, warning Berlin would respond to "unilateral steps."
"A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity," he said in a statement issued shortly before his trip on Thursday to Israel and the Palestinian territories.