Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. embassy in Israel would remain in Jerusalem if he is elected, even as he called U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to move the diplomatic base from Tel Aviv "short-sighted and frivolous."

Biden, speaking during a virtual fundraiser, suggested relocating the embassy again would not help the stagnant peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

"But now that it's done, I would not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv," Biden said.

Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, when he announced plans to move the embassy there. In May 2018, his administration opened the new facility – a decision that was met with intense controversy both in Washington and in the Middle East.

Following the move the Palestinians cut ties with Washington, calling the Trump administration biased toward Israel.

Yet rather than reversing Trump, Biden told donors he'd reopen a U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem to engage Palestinian leaders in talks about a "two-state solution" that had long been the official U.S. posture toward Israel and the Palestinians.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world body is committed to its established position of a two-state solution with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of United Nations resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements and realizing the vision of two states – Israel and Palestine – living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines," Guterres said at a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Jerusalem remains a final status issue. The city's future can only be resolved on the basis of international law and through negotiations between the parties, he said.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)