It will be the first meeting between Powell and European leaders since the war on Iraq began two weeks ago. The US secretary of state was heading first to Ankara and then to Brussels, via a quick stop in Belgrade.

Powell is due to arrive in Brussels from Turkey on Wednesday evening and on Thursday have lunch with EU and NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters, ahead of an extraordinary session of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's highest decision-making body.

He will also have a joint meeting with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the EU Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

Meanwhile comments by the foreign ministry of Greece, which currently holds the EU presidency, suggested that the atmosphere at the Brussels talks may be tense.

"It would have been preferable for Mr Powell to have taken this initiative before the war," Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas said on Tuesday, adding however that "it was never too late".

"We will discuss the future, because the future cannot be a succession of offensives and the imposition of an 'imperium', there are limits to everything," he continued, in comments clearly expressing exasperation at recent US actions.

In contrast, Portuguese foreign minister Antonio Martins da Cruz -- whose country supports the US-led war in Iraq -- said on Tuesday that "we are always very happy to meet our friends from across the Atlantic."

On Thursday evening, Powell is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, also in Brussels.

The US State Department has said Powell hopes to discuss issues related to the war in Iraq, now in its 13th day, and about the post-war future of the oil-rich country.

He could raise the possibility of involving countries other than the United States and Britain in stabilising Iraq and maintaining order after the end of the war.

Washington's strategy in Iraq has deeply divided its European partners and put strains on transatlantic relations.

But the 15 EU members agreed at a summit on March 20-21 that the United Nations should play a central role in Iraq during and after the war.

European calls for a UN-supervised administration in Iraq are becoming more strident amid concerns that Washington may cut non-US companies out of reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

A spokeswoman for Patten, the EU external relations chief, stressed that the 15-nation Union was "primarily concerned that the United Nations should play a key role in Iraq after the war".

She said it was too soon for the EU to discuss "concrete projects" in post-war Iraq, and that no hard decisions would be taken during the meeting.

"We must above all else listen to the Americans to understand what is on their mind," she said.

SPACE.WIRE