Shimon Peres said that the peace talks would be based on the internationally-backed "roadmap" which was launched in 2003.

The Israeli leader and Mr Abbas, who is from the moderate Fatah party, have met only once since Mr Olmert became Prime Minister, during an informal setting in June.

“We have to call on Abu Mazen [Mr Abbas] to meet and in my opinion the Prime Minister will do so in the coming days,” Mr Peres, the Deputy Israeli Prime Minister, told Army Radio.

“We have to conduct negotiations on the basis of the roadmap,” he added.

"As soon as the issue of our kidnapped soldier is resolved, and I hope that it will be, that is what he will do.”

But Mr Abbas today played down reports in the local press that a prisoner exchange deal was imminent, stressing that negotiations had not yet been concluded.

“What I said was that there were agreements sponsored by our Egyptian brothers but they have not yet materialised,” he said.

Under the proposed deal, Egypt would play the role of mediator, taking charge of the captured soldier after which there would be an exchange of prisoners.

However, Mr Abbas said the proposed exchange did not cover Palestinian ministers since their detention was illegal and called for their immediate release.

Saeb Erekat, an aide to Mr Abbas, said that the Palestinian president was ready to talk. “We believe that any time Mr Olmert is ready to meet, the meeting should be very well prepared because what counts should be the substance,” he told Reuters news agency.

The Israeli captive, Corporal Gilad Shalit, was kidnapped on June 25 in a cross-border raid by gunmen linked to Hamas, the militant group that controls the Palestinian Authority.

His capture triggered an Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, during which more than 200 Palestinians died.

The roadmap, which was drafted by the EU, the UN, the United States and Russias, outlined stages toward establishing a viable Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel by 2005.

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