WASHINGTON, May 6: The question of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza will figure during the Bush administration’s talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon beginning on Tuesday, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated on Sunday.

Appearing on the NBC’s Meet the Press news show, Powell said everyone had to realize that a Palestine state living side by side with Israel was the only way to achieve peace in the Middle East, and in this connection “something has to be done about the (Israeli) settlements.”

The issue of what the borders of a Palestine state should be was a tough one, but these borders would have to be determined, and the question would be part of the talks with Mr Sharon, he said.

The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly and stubbornly ruled out withdrawing to the pre-1967 borders, which is the main Palestinian and Arab demand as a condition for full recognition of and normalization of relations with Israel and represents a principle contained in UN resolutions.

Sharon arrives in Washington in the wake of the decision by the US, the United Nations, the European Community and Russia — the Madrid “quartet” — to hold a Middle East conference or talks on the Middle East next month.

The Jordanian ruler, King Abdullah, is also expected in Washington during the course of the week, and the meetings with the king and Sharon will explore the agenda and scope of the forthcoming international meeting, and how it can lead to a later heads of government conference on the Middle East.

In his interview, Powell said diplomats would now be fanning out to lay the groundwork for the foreign ministers’ meeting, and he would himself be prepared to go back to the region should the need be felt.

Since the announcement of the new international peace initiative, there has been confusion here about how much significance the Bush administration attaches to it. Initial descriptions of the proposed gathering as a conference were watered down to calling it a meeting.

Powell said the move should be seen as a continuation of the efforts being made over the past months and weeks that had led to the lifting of the Israeli siege of Remail and the ongoing attempt to break the stalemate in Bethlehem.