Further preparatory talks, to be held Monday, were also canceled after the attack.

Even with the preparatory talks, however, an agreement by the leaders of the seven nations on those issues is not certain.

The agreement said the preparatory talks should lead to full-scale negotiations involving all the parties by the end of February.

This week's meetings had been intended as "preparatory talks" simply to set an agenda for discussions, not to resolve anything substantial.

"You don't come here to agree to have more preparatory talks," a senior Administration official said even before the meeting today broke off.

If there is pessimism about the outcome, it is because the debate has been endlessly rehearsed at preparatory talks.

The preparatory talks for a possible superpower summit meeting may well take place in the bracing setting of Wyoming.

But after two years of preparatory talks, poor southern countries are fearful the North wants to keep them that way.

I am very pleased that in the preparatory talks we seem to have reached a satisfactory agreement on export refunds.

At the preparatory talks held in Copenhagen last week, we had a crucial exchange of views with many of our international partners.