03/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The meeting between the EU Troika and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (EUROPE 8959) was, according to Council President Jean Asselborn, who headed the delegation in Washington, “very constructive, essentially devoted to the preparations for the EU/US Summit in Washington on 20 June”. Both sides also evoked developments in the Middle East (and above all the support that the EU and the United States can provide to the Lebanese government after elections), the preparation of the international conference on Iraq on 22 June in Brussels, and Sudan. In Washington, the Troika also met the foreign minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari. Discussions, attended by Jean Asselborn, EU High Representative Javier Solana and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, essentially covered the international conference on support for Iraq (EUROPE 8959).