Argentina and Uruguay made an official statement on Monday stating that they are joining Brazil in recognizing Palestine as an independent state with its pre-1967 borders. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reached out to the South American governments as part of an effort to win United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman stated that a letter was sent by the country's President Cristina Kirchner to Abbas declaring recognition of a free Palestinian state. Timmerman also stressed his government's solidarity with "the initiatives of the international community aimed at attaining a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." Israel, in return, expressed disappointment from this announcement designating it as "regrettable" since it undercuts American-led efforts to create such a state through negotiations with Israel.