German government calls recognition of Palestinian state 'counterproductive'

BERLIN (Reuters) -A German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin has current no plans to recognise a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution with Israel.

"A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today. ... The recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process and such decisions would now be rather counterproductive," the spokesperson said during a press conference.

Countries including Australia, United Kingdom, France and Canada have recently said they would recognise a Palestinian state under different conditions.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Andreas Rinke, Editing by Rachel More)