US to veto Palestinian bid for statehood at United Nations

Washington will veto any Palestinian effort to seek a statehood at the UN Security Council (UNSC), said the US government Thursday.

"It should not come as a shock to anyone in this room that the US opposes a move in New York by the Palestinians to try to establish a state that can only be achieved through negotiations," Xinhua quoted US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland as saying during a news briefing.

 "So, yes, if something comes to a vote in the UN Security Council, the US will veto," she said.

On Thursday, the Palestinians announced that they decided to go to the UN later in September to request the recognition of a full membership of the state of Palestine established on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

 The decision by the Palestinians means that the effort by the Obama administration to convince them not to seek a vote at UN, had failed.