Berlin/Tel Aviv - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was prepared to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, calling it a "positive thing," Israeli media reported.

He was reacting to reports from earlier in the day that Abbas would be willing to meet with him, but this should not be seen as the resumption of suspended peace talks between the sides.

Abbas in turn was reacting to reports of a possible three-way meeting, attended also by US President Barack Obama, at the United Nations next month.

An aide to the Palestinian leader said Wednesday that Palestinians have received no formal invitation to such a mini-summit. However, other, unnamed Palestinian sources said Wednesday night that preparations for a three-way meet were underway.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were suspended late last year as Israel began an election campaign, and have not yet been renewed.

Abbas said the talks will not resume unless Israel halts completely all construction in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The US too has demanded a construction halt, but Netanyahu says that while Israel will build no new settlements, it will continue work inside existing ones, to accommodate population expansion, so- called "natural growth."

Talks between Israel and the US to resolve the issue, the most recent of which took place in London Wednesday morning, are continuing.

Netanyahu said Wednesday night he was prepared to discuss every issue Abbas wanted to put on the table, such as the future of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

He added that Israel would raise issues of its own, like Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, and a demand that a peace treaty lead to a declaration of an end to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.  (dpa)