BRATISLAVA, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting US President George W. Bush said here Thursday that the US and European countries have agreed to pursue diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear stand-off with Iran.

U.S. President George W. Bush waves to the crowd with his wife Laura as he arrives to deliver a speech during an open air public address in Bratislava, Slovakia Feb. 24. (AP)

    "We have a common objective to convince the ayatollahs not to have a nuclear weapon...I know we're all on the same page on this issue," Bush told reporters after holding talks with Slovakia's Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.

    "We are united in that goal. Hopefully we'll be able to make a diplomatic solution," said Bush, who arrived here Wednesday on his first visit to Slovakia, the last stop of his European tour aimed at healing trans-Atlantic rifts over the war against Iraq in March 2003.

    Bush, who visited Belgium and Germany en route to Slovakia, said Wednesday at a news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that it is vital that the Iranians "hear the world speak with one voice that they should not have a nuclear weapon."

    The president, who will later meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bratislava, is expected to raise the Iran nuclear issue with the Russian leader whose country has close commercial links with Iran.

    The US has long insisted that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, an allegation Iran has denied.

    Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday that his country would not give up its nuclear program which he claims is for peaceful purposes alone. Enditem