JERUSALEM -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Israeli President Shimon Peres Wednesday morning.

"After holding intensive meetings between (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas), I can say that both sides understand the ramifications and the results of the peace process," Clinton told Peres at the start of the meeting between the two in Jerusalem.

Peres told Clinton that both sides understood "that there was no alternative to negotiations," according to the Ynet News site.

Netanyahu and Abbas is slated to continue their second round of direct negotiations in Jerusalem later in the day after their talks in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday.