ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: OK, everyone. We're going to go to the State Department now for a news conference with Secretary of State Colin Powell and members of the European Union.</s>COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: ... for braving the blizzards of Washington, D.C. to be with us today. This is a critical time for the United States and our European friends, our European allies. From our shared concern about Saddam Hussein's failure to disarm to North Korea's prohibited nuclear program, our transatlantic agenda is daunting and it is global. Today we focused on four very important challenges: Iraq, the Middle East, North Korea, and Cyprus. On Iraq, we all share the same objective: Iraq's disarmament, as required under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Resolution 1441. The United States and some of our European friends do have some differences with regard to the next steps that should be taken, and we are exploring those differences in an open, honest and candid fashion. I was pleased to see the European Council's statement of February 17, which reinforced the need for Saddam Hussein to comply and to disarm. We're all hopeful for a peaceful solution, but we also understand that 1441 provided for serious consequences if Saddam Hussein did not comply. We in the European Union agree that it is important to keep the focus on Saddam and on his obligations to disarm. Responsibility and the decision to comply with the demands of the international community rest with him and we believe it is time for him to come clean. On the Middle East, we discussed our commitment to moving forward as quickly as possible with the
Secretary of State Discusses U.S. Alliance With E.U. on Global Issues