Bush to host crisis talks with EU

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/7670483.stm

Version 0 of 1.

President George W Bush is to hold talks on Saturday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The summit at Camp David will focus on the global financial crisis.

Mr Bush has already spoken to leaders from Italy, Germany and the UK this week in a bid to co-ordinate the global response to the economic turmoil.

President Sarkozy had earlier called for a meeting of heads of state from the Group of Seven richest nations.

France currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Still on table

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that President Bush had not yet ruled out a G7 summit, but conceded that immediate steps to combat the financial crisis were necessary.

"No-one ever said it's off the table, but we don't have a definitive date," she said.

"I think that in the future, we'll see if we can pull something together like that."

The announcement of Saturday's summit at Camp David came only hours after the White House revealed details of a $250bn (£143bn) plan to purchase stakes in a number of US banks in an effort to restore confidence in the industry.

The move followed similar steps taken by the UK and other European countries earlier this week.