US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has had her first substantive meetings with foreign ministers from Germany and Britain.
Mrs Clinton held separate talks in Washington with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
After meeting with the German Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton said the US needs German forces in Afghanistan.
'As President Obama has made quite clear, we need our closest allies, like Germany, to help us ensure the success and stability of the Afghan nation at this very important moment, she said.
Mr Obama has singled out Afghanistan as his main front in the war on terrorism and plans to deploy 30,000 more US troops there over the next 18 months.
Germany last year increased to 4,500 the number of troops it has in Afghanistan, where they form part of NATO's 50,000-strong International Security Assistance Force.
Iran, Afghanistan and other foreign policy challenges were on the agenda, State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters yesterday evening.
Since taking over the top US diplomatic post nearly two weeks ago, the former New York senator and US first lady has made scores of phone calls to foreign ministers across the globe.
But today's meetings will be her first face-to-face talks with close European allies.
'I expect these will be very, very substantive meetings,' said Mr Wood.
Tomorrow, senior diplomats from France, Germany, Britain, the US, Russia and China are set to meet in Germany to discuss a joint strategy to get Iran to curb its nuclear programme, a topic Mrs Clinton is likely to cover with both ministers today.
