The White House stated on Monday that it is critical for Europe to move with "force and decisiveness" to fight the deepening sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, saying the crisis continues to create a headwind for the global economy.

White House spokesman Jay Carney reiterated the U.S. stand as President Barack Obama was hosting a summit meeting with European Union leaders at the White House.

"Well, our position is and has been that it's critical for Europe to move with force and decisiveness now, particularly with new governments coming into place in Italy, Greece and Spain," Carney told reporters at a regular press briefing.

"We continue to believe that this is a European issue, that Europe has the resources and capacity to deal with it, and that they need to act decisively and conclusively to resolve this problem," he added.

The 17-nation eurozone is buffeted by a sovereign debt crisis, which was touched off by Greece and has begun to spread and touch the area's hard core, prompting fears about looming disintegration of the currency union.

Carney said the global economic situation and in particular the situation in Europe was one of the topics in Obama's talks with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Obama would reiterate what the United States believes -- that Europe needs to take "decisive action, conclusive action" to handle this problem, and that it has the capacity to do so, the spokesman said.

"The president is concerned, as he's expressed, about the fact that this is a global economy and that the events in Europe obviously have an impact on our economy," Carney said. "It's created a headwind for much of the year and continues to create that headwind."

"That's why we believe it's in the United States' interest, but most obviously in Europe's interest, to act decisively to deal with this profound challenge," he added.

He noted that the U.S. has "a great deal of expertise and experience" to share with the Europeans, and has been in regular consultations with its counterparts from various European governments.

Obama himself has been in constant contact with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy over phone calls.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet