In this handout photo provided by PPO, President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meets with Italian Prime Minister, &lt;a gi-track='captionPersonalityLinkClicked' href=/galleries/search?phrase=Enrico+Letta&amp;family=editorial&amp;specificpeople=2915592 ng-click='$event.stopPropagation()'&gt;Enrico Letta&lt;/a&gt; (R) on July 2, 2013 in Ramallah, West Bank. In a joint media conference with the Italian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas stated that after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry two days ago, that he is optimistic that the U.S. will succeed in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.