French President Nicolas Sarkozy told US Senators Tuesday that he hopes for US-French action to "put some pressure" on countries reluctant to battle climate change, one of the lawmakers said.

"He was very, very clear -- first topic he brought up was the need to have the United States lead and be engaged with France on the climate change, energy issue," Democratic Senator John Kerry told reporters after the talks.

"He's going to make a proposal about how we can jointly put some pressure on countries that are not prepared to measure up to the same efforts, people who try to take advantage of the selling of products that are very high, carbon-intensive," Kerry said.

Sarkozy's office did not confirm or deny Kerry's account, but the French leader has on several occasions floated the idea of a European Union import tax on goods from countries that resist steps to fight climate change.

Kerry and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin met at the US Capitol with Sarkozy, who was due at the White House later for talks with President Barack Obama on issues like climate change, Iran's nuclear program and the war in Afghanistan.

Asked whether Sarkozy had complained that the Obama administration was not listening enough to France or Europe, Kerry replied: "No, he didn't. He didn't complain about anything."

"He said that he's very happy to be here and he looks forward to good discussion and he wants to get moving on certain issues. We all know President Sarkozy is a man of great energy and focus and we look forward to working with him," said the lawmaker from Massachusetts.