G8 Leaders Want 'Strong Eurozone' With Greece

G8 leaders have expressed hope that debt-stricken Greece stays in the eurozone and vowed to "take all necessary steps" to try to combat the deepening economic turmoil in Europe.

In a statement of support for Europe, the eight leaders of the world's major economies said the global economic recovery shows promising signs but "significant headwinds persist".

"Against this backdrop, we commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognising that the right measures are not the same for each of us," they said in a communique.

The leaders said they welcomed discussions in Europe to balance debt reduction with measures to support growth.

They stressed the importance of a "strong and cohesive" eurozone and reaffirmed their interest in Greece remaining a member while honouring its commitments to tackle its deficit.

"We all have an interest in the success of specific measures to strengthen the resilience of the eurozone and growth in Europe," they said.

"We support euro area leaders' resolve to address the strains in the eurozone in a credible and timely manner and in a manner that fosters confidence, stability and growth."

The leaders were meeting at US President Barack Obama's Camp David retreat to seek ways to restore confidence in global financial markets after the risk of Greece leaving the eurozone and Spain's banking problems sent world stocks to their lowest levels this year.

Mr Obama opened the summit promising to try to find ways to restore healthy growth and jobs, and address concerns in Europe.

"All of us are absolutely committed to making sure that both growth and stability, and fiscal consolidation, are part of an overall package in order to achieve the kind of prosperity for our citizens we all are looking for," he said.

After an early morning treadmill workout with Mr Obama at the gym, Prime Minister David Cameron said he detected a "growing sense of urgency that action needs to be taken" on the crisis.

"What is required is a sense of urgency and then clear actions for strong banks, strong deficit reduction plans, strong governance and strong contingency plans for whatever might happen," he said.

"On all those things I think there's a good sense of talks taking place and a good sense that action needs to follow."

Before welcoming the leaders to the summit, Mr Obama met the newly-inaugurated Francois Hollande at the White House and backed his new French counterpart's focus on economic growth.

Mr Hollande was sworn in earlier this week after coming to power on a promise of renegotiating the eurozone's fiscal pact to focus on stimulating economic growth rather than austerity.

Inevitably that brought tensions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the architect of the austerity measures that have pushed Greece to the brink of leaving the eurozone.

Mrs Merkel insisted Germany and France were in agreement on the need for both growth and austerity, saying: "Otherwise we would not have been able to agree on a statement."

However, the G8 statement noted "the right measures are not the same for each of us".

Other discussions focused on Iran and the on-going bloodshed in Syria.

G8 leaders sent a strong message to the Islamic Republic that tough energy sanctions would be firmly applied, vowing to ensure oil markets are adequately supplied and to prevent soaring crude prices.

The move came days before the next round of nuclear talks between global powers and Iran that will take place in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Mr Obama told the G8 leaders that Syrian President Bashar al Assad must give up power, and pointed to Yemen as a model of how political transition could work there.

Washington's patience has been wearing thin with Mr Assad, who said he would adhere to a UN-Arab League peace plan but has failed to bring violence to a full halt.

The summit marked the start of four days of intensive diplomacy - including a Nato meeting in Chicago - that will also focus on the winding down of the war in Afghanistan and food security.