President Joe Biden, visiting the West Bank on Friday, reaffirmed his continued support for ‘two states for two peoples’ but acknowledged that ‘the ground is not ripe’ to relaunch stalled talks aimed at achieving an elusive peace between Israelis and Palestinians. His comments came during a joint appearance in Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, where he announced $201 million for a United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees. “The Palestinian people are suffering now,” Biden said. “You can just feel it. Your grief and your frustration. In the United States, we can feel it.” Biden said they “deserve a state that is independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous to them. Two states for two peoples, both of whom have deep and ancient roots in this country, living side by side in peace and security. “. Although such a goal “may seem so far away”, he said he would not give up on the peace process. “Even if the ground is not ripe at this time to restart negotiations, the United States and my administration will not give up on bringing Palestinians and Israelis together, on both sides,” he said. Biden’s trip to the West Bank has been met with skepticism and bitterness among Palestinians who believe he has taken too few steps toward reviving peace talks, especially after President Donald Trump sidelined them while strongly favoring Israel. The last serious round of negotiations aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state failed more than a decade ago, leaving millions of Palestinians to live under Israeli military rule. Biden acknowledged earlier on the trip that a two-state solution won’t happen “in the short term.” The United States also appears to have accepted defeat in its more modest effort to reopen a Jerusalem consulate serving Palestinians that was closed when Trump recognized the disputed city as Israel’s capital.