U.S. officials are downplaying reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to take Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call by saying the two sides are having “working level” conversations.

Abbas and Blinken have not spoken, reportedly because the Palestinian official has refused to take the top U.S. diplomat’s call. Abbas wants a phone call with President Joe Biden, who has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that holdout has delayed high-level conversations between the U.S. government and Abbas’s team.