MOSCOW - European trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said here Monday that in the dispute over state aid to the European and US aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing, "the ball is in America's court".
"I'm looking for clarification of the US position," Mandelson told a press conference in response to a breakdown in talks late Friday.
"It's not for me to say who should or shouldn't conduct these negotiations, I'm happy to negotiate with whoever is there," he added.
His comments came amid tension between the European Union and the United States, with each side blaming the other for an abrupt end to a telephone call between Mandelson and outgoing US trade representative Robert Zoellick.
Earlier in Brussels, commission spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said: "We were very surprised by the ... abrupt line taken on Friday night. It is not our view that we put an end to this conversation."
She said the EU is still prepared to negotiate, although it is premature to say whether it would accept an extension of the April 11 deadline agreed by both sides for a deal.
In Washington on Monday, the United States accused the EU of walking away from the talks but said it too stood ready to resume the negotiations.
Both sides agreed in January to negotiate a phasing out of subsidies to develop commercial aircraft, thus avoiding taking the issue to the World Trade Organization.
They set a 90-day period to hammer out a deal, but with the deadline fast approaching, there is still little sign of agreement.
03/21/2005 19:26 GMT