WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pressed visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday to help break the logjam to elusive Mideast peace talks, acknowledging with a deadline fast approaching that the task ahead is “very hard, it’s very challenging.”

“We’re going to have to take some tough political decisions and risks if we’re to move it forward,” Obama said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with the Palestinian leader. “My hope is that we can continue to see progress in the coming days and weeks.”