(WASHINGTON) - The US State Department gave cautious support Monday to a Mediterranean summit in Paris aimed at spurring on Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

"We don't have an observer there. We don't have a place at the table. But I think, generally, it's an effort that we can, at the least, be supportive of," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

"What the specific outcomes of this grouping will be, you now, we'll see. We'll see. But it would appear that they had a good first meeting," he said.

The United States hosted an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November that launched the first serious Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in seven years, but no concrete progress has been announced.

In Paris on Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and more than 40 leaders launched a new Union for the Mediterranean, hoping to inject momentum in Middle East peace efforts.

The new forum brings together the 27 countries of the European Union with states from north Africa, the Balkans and Arab nations with Israel to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.

In Paris, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad scored a comeback on the international stage after years of isolation, taking his seat alongside Arab leaders at the same table with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

A strong proponent of isolating Damascus, Washington has been lukewarm toward new Turkish-brokered indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, adding the Israeli-Palestinian track is the most mature.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday that Israel and the Palestinians disagreed over the final declaration at the Mediterranean summit and the wording will have to be changed.

Paris Summit for the Mediterranean

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