Syria and Israel have agreed to resume their peace talks on January 3 of next year in Washington, U.S. President Bill Clinton announce in Washington on December 16.

His announcement came after he met with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak following their wrapping up of two days of negotiations at the Blair House, the U.S. official guest house.

"The prime minister and the foreign minister agreed to return to Washington to continue their negotiations on an intensive basis beginning January 3rd," Clinton said at the White House with Barak and Shara at his side.

He said the two sides agreed to take steps to ensure that "negotiations will be conducted in a productive and positive atmosphere."

Clinton called the two-day talks a good start toward peace in the Middle East.

"We are witnessing a new beginning in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East with Syrian and Israeli negotiations off to a good start," he said.

He continued that the world will set its sight "on a new and different Middle East."

"As I emphasized from the outset, the journey will be tough. Nothing in the past 48 hours should lead us to believe otherwise," Clinton said. "But the parties are embarked on this path. They have agreed there should be no looking back, for the sake of our generations and generations yet to come."

Clinton brushed question about the substance of the talks between Barak and Shara and led the two leaders back into the White House without further comment.