US and French leaders meet

US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have held their first face-to face meeting in the French city of Strasbourg, leading up to a cross-border NATO summit.

At a joint press conference after their talks, Obama said he wanted Europe to improve its capabilities in NATO as much as possible.

"We want strong allies. We would like to see Europe have much more robust defense capabilities," he said.

Obama praised the French President's "courageous" leadership on Afghanistan, and said that France, the United States' oldest ally, had "once again taken an extraordinary leadership role in NATO."

President Sarkozy welcomed Obama at a red carpet reception on Friday at Strasbourg's majestic Palais de Rohan, where a company of soldiers accorded him full military honors.

Sarkozy stressed that while there would be no French military reinforcements in Afghanistan, Paris was enthusiastic about contributing more to police training and providing economic aid.

"We completely support the new American strategy in Afghanistan," Sarkozy told the press conference.