And French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy last week appeared to suggest that the demand to stop enrichment before talks was negotiable.
He later reversed himself. Still, such vacillation appeared to reflect that -- although Britain, France and Germany formally represent the European Union within the six-nation coalition -- a sizable number of countries within the 25-member EU oppose a quick move to sanctions.
Solana was to brief senior representatives of the six powers yesterday by phone on his Vienna talks in a conference call.
Those discussions will likely influence what steps are next taken by the Security Council.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus said the telephone conference would proceed as scheduled yesterday and there would be further negotiations on sanctions at the UN later in the week.
RSS