Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt  - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cast doubts Monday on recent comments by Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert that progress has been made in the Middle East peace process.

Olmert told US President George W Bush in Jerusalem last week that peace negotiations with Abbas were making "serious progress" and negotiations "hopefully will come to fruition within this year, 2008."

However, Abbas said in an interview published Monday in the Saudi Al-Watan newspaper that "there is no agreement, rather what has taken place is only an exchange of views."

Abbas, who met with Bush at the weekend on the fringes of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, expressed scepticism at Bush's prediction that the foundations of a Palestinian state could be established before the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, speaking Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan warned against excessive expectations over Turkish-mediated indirect talks between Israel and Syria: "We are only at the beginning."

"Both sides approached us separately ... we told both sides that this track should in no way overshadow the Palestinian track," Babacan said.

Referring to the talks Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The Syrian president knows exactly what we think and we know exactly what he thinks."

The two sides and Turkey have maintained absolute secrecy over the details of the talks. (dpa)