US will stand by Greece to resolve crisis: Obama

The prime minister of Greece George Papandreou yesterday met with US President Barack Obama and discussed ways of resolving his country's economic crisis. Both leaders spoke at a White House reception, hours after meeting in the Oval Office.

Obama did not directly mention the financial problems in Greece, but has told Papandreou the US will work with Greece, which is struggling with massive debt, reported the Voice of America.

"Now, like his father and his grandfather before him, the prime minister is leading Greece through challenging times," said Obama.

"But as I told him during our meeting in the Oval Office today, whether in good times or in bad times, the people of Greece will always have a friend and a partner in the United States of America," Obama added.

"We have found a positive response from President Obama which means this issue will be on the agenda in the next G20 meeting," Papandreou told reporters, referring to the G20 meeting in June, outside the White House after the talks.

Greece, which needs to redeem debts of around 20 billion euros ($27.19 billion) by the end of May, also wants a US crackdown on hedge funds and currency traders that Athens believes aggravated their crisis.