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Powell, Dini Hold Talks in Washington
US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini held talks Thursday on bilateral relations, the Middle East, Russia and the Balkans.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell and Dini discussed the need for consistency and continued cooperation in each of those areas.
On the Balkans, Powell stressed to Dini that despite its ongoing review of troop deployments in Kosovo and Bosnia, Washington intended to remain engaged in the region, he said.
"They talked about the cooperation between the United States and Italy throughout the events there and the need for our continued cooperation in that regard," Boucher said.
But the contentious issues of Iraq and controversial U.S. plans for a national missile defense system (NMD) were not raised in the opening portion of the meeting, Boucher said.
Italy has been critical of U.S. and British airstrikes against Iraq and is opposed to U.S. NMD plans, which is in violation of 1972 U.S.-Soviet Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
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