In an interview published by Israel's Haaretz newspaper on Friday, Abbas said, "I can't say that even one issue has been agreed upon. The gap between the sides is very large."
Israel and the Palestinian National Authority pledged in a U.S.-sponsored meeting in Annapolis, Maryland last November to resume peace talks, draft a settlement plan by late 2008, and come to terms on the form of a future independent Palestinian state. However their talks have so far made little tangible progress.
However, both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have recently been downbeat about the prospect of achieving a deal by the end of the year.
Abbas was speaking on the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords, the agreement intended to be the framework for future Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Olmert is currently facing a number of corruption charges, and has said that he will step down after his Kadima Party chooses a new leader on September 17. He will though most likely remain as caretaker prime minister until a new government can be formed or elections are held.
"I think very highly of him, and we worked together for over a year. Now he is preparing to leave and we will respect what the Israeli public decides. We will negotiate with any prime minister elected in Israel and wish Olmert well." Abbas said.
Both Palestinian and Israeli officials have spoken recently of a certain amount of progress in talks aimed at drawing up the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state. However, there has been no progress over Jerusalem. Palestinians envisage East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state. The UN has condemned Israel's annexation of the city.
On the issue of Palestinian refugees, Abbas said, "We understand that if all five million refugees return to their homes, the State of Israel will be destroyed."
He also said that Israel must acknowledge its responsibility for the refugees and work on a practical right of return.
Some 700,000 Palestinians were displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. However, the term refugee is generally taken to include descendents when referring to the Palestinians.
He also dismissed calls from a number of leading Palestinian figures for a single state in which Palestinians and Israelis would enjoy equal rights.
"We must stick to the 'two states for two peoples' solution," he said, adding that "the continued construction of settlements, the roadblocks, and the raids in the West Bank" did not bring this any closer.
He also stressed the importance of unity between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, saying that if there was no Palestinian unity there would be no Palestinian state. Gaza has been controlled by radical Islamic group Hamas since last June, when it seized the enclave from Abbas' Fatah movement.
Abbas also insisted that a Palestinian state could, and should, only be achieved through peaceful diplomatic means.
"We erred when we made the second intifada into an armed struggle, and I will do everything to prevent a third armed intifada," he said.
