US President George W Bush and European Union leaders emphasized unity on pressuring Iran to give up nuclear ambitions and China to lower trade barriers at a summit on Monday overshadowed by a crisis within the EU.
Mr Bush met at the White House with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso; Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the rotating European Council; and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Their talks came against a backdrop of a crisis in the European Union over its failure to agree on a long-term budget and to ratify a constitution to give the world's biggest trading bloc greater solidarity.
The EU leaders told Mr Bush that despite the disarray, the bloc's governing apparatus is functioning and “not at its knees,” Mr Juncker said at a joint news conference with Mr Bush, Mr Barroso and Mr Solana.
“It's no surprise that in this process some problems may occur, but the European Union is there,” Mr Barroso added. “We are on business. We are deciding. We are taking decisions every day internally and externally, and we are committed to this very close relation with the United States.“
Mr Bush told them the United States supports a strong European Union. “My message to these leaders and these friends was that we want a Europe strong so we can work together to achieve important objectives and important goals,” he said.
To that end, Mr Bush made clear there was no differences in position on Iran, which the United States suspects wants to develop a civilian nuclear power program in order to ultimately have nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran dies.
Britain, France and Germany have offered economic incentives to Iran if it will forswear nuclear ambitions, and Washington supports those negotiations.
Mr Bush said he and the EU leaders talked about Iran and he thanked them "for sending a clear message to the leadership in Iran that we're not going to tolerate the development of a nuclear weapon."