VIDEO: Watch Tony Blair and Secretary Rice after the Quartet meeting

If progress could be made on improving the situation on the ground in the Palestinian territories then the political talks could move ahead faster, Quartet Representative Tony Blair said today.

Speaking at a press conference after the Quartet Meeting, Tony Blair said he believed there was a clear focus on achieving a peace settlement within the UN, US, Russia and the EU.

To help the Palestinians prepare for statehood, The Quartet called upon both sides to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map. It also called on both sides to refrain from any steps that undermine confidence or could prejudice the outcome of negotiations. In this context, the Quartet expressed its deep concern at continuing settlement activity and called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.

It also called on the Palestinian Authority to fulfil its commitments to fight terrorism and to accelerate steps to rebuild and refocus its security apparatus. It urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to increase cooperation in that respect and to facilitate the delivery of security assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

Tony Blair said: "The reason why I remain, in the end, not merely determined but also believe that we can achieve a breakthrough is that there is a focus now both on improving the Palestinian security capability and on getting economic and social development going."

"This political negotiation can move forward better and faster than people think at the present time but it requires an enormous commitment and effort," he said.

On Gaza, Tony Blair stressed that, despite the difficult situation, the current deadlock could be ended.

"Everybody knows that the situation in Gaza is terrible. But there is a different and better way through. That is for the terror attacks and the rocket attacks and the smuggling of weapons to stop, for the action therefore by Israel also to stop and for a progressive lifting of the restrictions and the opening of the border."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed: "I believe that they do have a chance of getting an agreement by the end of the year and that is what we are going to work for every day."

Read today’s Quartet Statement here