US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Romanian Foreign Minister Razvan Ungureanu here on Thursday to discuss redeployment of US troops in Europe.

"It's a very important process that we're going through of the repositioning of our forces, but it is something that really can't be rushed," Rice told reporters after the meeting.

Romania is one of the countries Washington was in talks with for the redeployment of American troops in Europe, Rice said, noting "we look forward to working with the Romanian Government on this issue."

Washington is expecting to reduce the number of troops it has based in western Europe, at the same time redeploying them further east in Europe toward missions in support of logistics or the fight against terrorism.

Romania, which joined the NATO in March 2004, has deployed nearly 800 troops in Iraq as part of the US-led multinational force there. It also has 500 troops in Afghanistan supporting the US Operation Enduring Freedom.

Source: Xinhua