The European Union's foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana said in Athens that a trans-Atlantic rift between Washington and leading European nations over Iraq would be a "very negative thing."
"I think we have to cool off a little bit, on statements. . . to look at the situation with rational eyes," he told reporters after a meeting of EU officials with Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov.
"We are allies of the US. We have a very profound friendship with the US and we have to do the utmost to maintain this relationship," he said.
His comment followed anger in Germany and France over an accusation by US Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld that they represented "old Europe" and were isolated in their opposition to war with Iraq.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also sought to calm the dispute over Mr Rumsfeld's comment, saying the two continents were built on the same values.
"I want to keep the debate factual and I don't want to take part in polemic disputes," Mr Schroeder said in an interview with RTL television for broadcast today.
Germany and Russia, meanwhile, stressed in a phone conversation between Mr Schroeder and President Vladimir Putin that they shared similar positions on the need for a political solution to Iraq within the framework of the UN.
A day after the inspectors' report, Mr Bush will deliver his State of the Union speech and will tell the American people of the direct threat posed by Iraq, while issuing no ultimatum to Saddam or declaration of war, aides said.
Pope John Paul added his voice today to pleas for peace, calling on journalists to join the frontlines of a peace effort and avoid becoming "agents of propaganda and disinformation."
AFP