Sarkozy calls Abbas on how to break peace impasse

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday with "important suggestions" to restart the stalled peace process, an Abbas aide said.

The phone call came a day after the French leader met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris.

"President Sarkozy had very important suggestions on how to move the peace process forward," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

He did not elaborate, but said Sarkozy had shared details of his meeting with Netanyahu and the two agreed to talk again in a few days.

Another senior Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity that among the topics discussed was the idea of organizing a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, an idea Russia has been pushing for months.

Netanyahu returned to Israel early on Thursday after meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington and Sarkozy in Paris.

Obama's administration has struggled for months to get Israel and the Palestinian to restart peace negotiations that were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.