President Barack Obama will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday as the push to head off a Mideast diplomatic clash at the United Nations intensified.

The White House announced the late addition to Obama's schedule on Tuesday night.

Abbas is pressing ahead with a campaign for statehood at the U.N. despite intense U.S. efforts to forge a diplomatic solution that would avoid a vote in the U.N. Security Council. Obama's administration has pledged to veto such a move and is working to get Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back into direct peace talks instead.

Obama is also meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday after delivering his main address to the U.N. General Assembly.