Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas began an official visit to Argentina Sunday that includes a meeting with President Cristina Kirchner to discuss the Middle East, just days after a visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres. 'President Abbas' visit brings the opportunity of exchanging views on the Middle East situation, the state of Palestinian-Israeli talks and the possibility of Argentina cooperating in the region,' Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. During her meeting with Peres last week, Kirchner said her government was in favor of a peace agreement in the Middle East that included the creation of a Palestinian state and the right of Israel to live safely within its borders. Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations were suspended since the Gaza war at the turn of the year amid deep disagreement on the thorny issue of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land. The Palestinian Authority has refused a recent Israeli proposal to restart peace talks without a complete freeze of settlement activity, a Palestinian official told selfnews on Sunday. Abbas is accompanied on his two-day visit to Argentina by his foreign minister Riad Al-Maliki and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. The Palestinian leader will meet Monday with Kirchner and later attend a lunch at the foreign ministry. Tuesday, Abbas is expected to meet with Argentina's top lawmakers at the Congress, visit the Islamic Center and give a speech at the Argentine Council of International Relations. Abbas and Peres also visited neighboring Brazil these past two weeks. During his visit, Abbas called on Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to play a greater role in international efforts to reach an agreement on Middle East peace. 