Visiting U.S. President George W. Bush and Italian Premier Romano Prodi discussed the Middle East, Iran, Kosovo and Afghanistan during a 90-minute working lunch which was followed by a joint press conference in Rome on Saturday.

Bush thanked Italy for its role in Lebanon, where it leads a United Nations' peacekeeping force. Italy is the force's biggest contributor, with 2,500 troops.

He also warned Syria to stop disrupting the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Prodi commented that "difficult situations are still open in Lebanon, despite positive results from the peacekeeping mission."

With regard to Iran, both Bush and Prodi expressed fresh concern over the Islamic republic's nuclear activities.

Prodi said his government and the U.S. "shared opinions on the difficult problem of Iran and on the danger of the spread of nuclear weapons."

"We can work together to put pressure on the Iranian government so that it does not overstep the limits of a peaceful and controlled use of nuclear facilities," the center-left premier said.

Iran says it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful energy purposes but Western states fear its program is a cover for producing nuclear weapons.

The Bush administration has not ruled out military action against Iran if considered necessary.

Meanwhile, on Kosovo, whose Albanian population is pushing for a UN vote on independence from Serbia, Bush said a deadline had to be set for granting the province its autonomy.

Bush also thanked Prodi for Italy's help in Afghanistan, where 2,000 Italian troops are serving under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with a peacekeeping mandate.

Prodi told reporters that Bush had "absolutely not" asked for greater commitment from Italy in Afghanistan.

Both Bush and Prodi underscored the solidity of ties between Washington and Rome despite some recent differences on foreign policy and other issues.

"Italy is a great friend... Relations between our countries are strong and we intend to keep them that way," said Bush, who invited Prodi to visit Washington.

Prodi said that Italy and U.S. don't have any bilateral problems, "We basically agree on how the future of the world should look."

Source: Xinhua