President Barack Obama has called on world leaders to assist the euro zone in working out the details of its rescue plan so that it can be “fully and decisively implemented,” according to reports Thursday.
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President Barack Obama
Following a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Obama said that while the European Union had taken steps toward a broad solution, the Group of 20 (G20) would have to “flesh out more of the details," Dow Jones reported.
The news wire also reported that Obama carried out discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about ways to boost the firepower of the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund, or EFSF, without assistance from the European Central Bank .
To stop the European crisis from escalating — and potentially bringing down the U.S. economy with it — Obama wants Europe to increase the capital of its banks and build a more extensive firewall around its larger economies.
Separately, Obama said Sarkozy and he agreed during talks on Thursday on the need for pressure to be maintained on Iran over its nuclear program.
"We had the opportunity to talk about a range of security issues," Obama told reporters following talks with Sarkozy ahead of a G20 heads of state summit in the French resort of Cannes.
"One in particular that I want to mention is the continuing threat posed by Iran's nuclear program," the U.S. president said. "The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran's nuclear programme next week, and President Sarkozy and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure on Iran to meet its obligations."