US President Barack Obama was meeting top EU officials on Wednesday, with a landmark trade deal being negotiated between the two sides and the crisis in Ukraine expected to top the agenda, dpa reported. The US leader is on a week-long trip to Europe and the Middle East, which already included two days of international talks in the Netherlands. It is his first visit to Belgium and the European Union's institutions. "Good to see you guys on your home turf," Obama told EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as he arrived for their lunchtime summit. "At a moment when the principles of international security and diplomatic engagement are challenged in Europe and the world, the cooperation between the European Union and the United States is of critical importance," Van Rompuy had said ahead of the talks. But the fact that the summit is scheduled to last only about 75 minutes had raised some eyebrows in Brussels. EU sources downplayed the brevity of the meeting, saying that it would be tightly focused on key issues. The fallout from the US spying scandal, the Iranian nuclear talks, energy security and climate change are also expected to be on the agenda. The talks will help "maintain the momentum and ambition" in the EU-US relationship ahead of European elections in May and US midterm elections in November, one source said on condition of anonymity. Obama had started the day by honouring US soldiers killed in World War I, with a visit to the Flanders Field American Cemetery in western Belgium. This year marks the centenary of the conflict. He used the occasion to call for a commitment to peace, pointing to the still-enduring problem of chemical weapons in the world. "Our nations are part of the international effort to destroy Syria's chemical weapons - the same kinds of weapons that were used to such devastating effect on these very fields," Obama said. "These weapons have no place in a civilized world," he added. "We must commit perennially to peace, which binds us across oceans ... Americans and Belgians will always stand together for freedom, for dignity and for the triumph of the human spirit." Obama, who was accompanied by King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, described Belgium as "one of our closest partners in the world, a strong and capable ally." The US leader is scheduled to end the day by discussing the situation in Ukraine with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and by delivering a speech at the Bozar Center for Fine Arts, on European security and transatlantic relations. Obama will highlight the threats facing global security - including Russia's actions in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea - and underline the importance of a free and peaceful Europe, a high-ranking US official said on condition of anonymity. In the evening, Obama will travel on to Rome, where he is to meet Pope Francis, as well as Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Some protests had been expected as part of Obama's visit to Belgium. The non-governmental organization Amnesty International on Tuesday staged an action to demand the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Strict security measures have been in place in Brussels. Automobile and pedestrian traffic was restricted on major thoroughfares.
