Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had talks with US President Barak Obama at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting took place in front of the famous fireplace in the Oval Office.

The euro crisis was the most important topic of conversation during the meeting, which went on for nearly twice as long as the scheduled 30 minutes. Mr Obama said he was eager to listen to Mr Rutte's proposals for solving the crisis in the Eurozone countries.

At the beginning of the meeting, President Obama told the Dutch leader that the Netherlands was one of America's most important allies. He also said he would like to visit the Netherlands as he had heard that it was "a beautiful country with nice people." Mr Rutte said it would be an honour for the Netherlands to host a visit from Mr Obama.

The two leaders also discussed jobs; the Netherlands is the ninth largest importer of US products and Dutch investments provide jobs for around 625,000 Americans.

This was the Dutch leader's first visit to the White House.

(jric/mw)

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