Senior European Union officials were holding foreign policy talks with U.S. diplomats at the State Department on Wednesday.The meetings on policy priorities such as Iran, Afghanistan and energy security followed an EU-US summit Tuesday at the White House.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was not attending the meetings because of a last minute decision to extend a trip to the Middle East. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg was expected to stand in for her.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt were among the European officials attending the meeting.
The two sides also were holding the first meeting of a new EU-US energy council aimed at deepening cooperation on energy security and research.
After Tuesday's summit, President Barack Obama said he agreed with the European leaders that it is imperative to press forward with efforts to reach a climate deal in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. There, world leaders will negotiate a follow-on agreement to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997.
Obama says the leaders agree they must act before that meeting to ensure it will yield substantial progress.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says he emerged from the talks more confident about climate progress.
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