Clinton Meets British, German Foreign Ministers

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plunged into her first face-to-face talks with foreign ministers on Tuesday, reinforcing old ties with traditional European allies Britain and Germany.

Clinton met British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in separate sessions at the State Department that focused heavily on Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The meetings were Clinton's first since she took office less than two weeks ago. After the meetings, all participants promised a cooperative working relationship on a crush of difficult foreign policy challenges.

"All of the European foreign ministers who come here this week will be bringing a very strong message," Miliband said, with Clinton at his side.

"We have heard what you and the Obama administration have said about the commitment to work with allies. But we also know that allies have to step up to build a strong working relationship," he said.

Former President George W. Bush had a close working relationship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair but U.S. relations with other European powers, particularly Germany and France, frayed after the launch of the Iraq war in 2003.

Clinton and President Barack Obama have promised to bring a new cooperative approach to alliances. Clinton praised the relationship with both Britain and Germany after her meetings.

"We need our closest allies like Germany to help us ensure the success and stability of the Afghanistan nation," Clinton said, adding that the U.S. relationship with Britain "stands the test of time."

"Our two countries have stood side by side confronting global challenges for a very long time," the former first lady and New York senator told reporters. "We share fundamental values and important fundamental objectives."

On Wednesday, the State Department's point man on Iran, Bill Burns, will meet on the issue in Germany with diplomats from China, Russia, Britain, Germany and France.

Miliband said the United States had made clear it would work with Britain and others to find the right policy on Iran.

"In due course it will be for the Iranians to make a choice about whether they want to reach out to the hand that is stretched out to them," he said.

Clinton said she and Steinmeier discussed U.S. plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay within one year, but she had not made any specific requests on the resettling of detainees.

European countries are considering whether they will take inmates from the prison who cannot go back to their home country, but Steinmeier said Germany would "respond to such formal requests only once they have been made."