U.S. Middle East special envoy George Mitchell said in Washington Thursday that parties have "long and productive" talks in the first direct Middle East peace talks over the past 20 months.

U.S. Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell speaks to the media about direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine at the State Department in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, Sept. 2, 2010. [Zhang Jun/Xinhua]

The trilateral parties, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, have just concluded the first round of the talks, which lasted about one and a half hours, Mitchell told reporters here.

"In the trilateral meeting, there was a long and productive discussion on a range of issues," he said. "President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed their intent to approach these negotiations in good faith and with a seriousness of purpose. They also agreed that for these negotiations to succeed, they must be kept private and treated with the utmost sensitivity."

Both Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to make efforts to meet the one- year deadline set by the U.S. government to solve all final status issues, such as borders of a new Palestinian State, security, refugees and the future of Jerusalem, he said.

Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to meet again on Sept. 14-15 in the region, he said, adding that Clinton and himself will attend the Israeli-Palestinian meeting in about two weeks.

Earlier Thursday, Clinton relaunched the direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians at the State Department, the first over the past 20 months with an aim to end a six-decade conflict between the two sides in one year.