US President George W Bush won cautious kudos in Europe and Asia yesterday for urging reduced dependance on oil and backing alternative energy sources in his State of the Union address, but his push for more troops in Iraq was widely derided.

Improving transatlantic ties between Europe and the US was a key issue for many leaders today whomever US voters send to the White House.

A senior German official today said he hoped that if US President George Bush was re-elected, he would seize the chance for a “new beginning” in relations with Europe, and stressed that Berlin would send no troops to Iraq, whoever won the US presidential election.

The new Anglo-American resolution on Iraq still does not properly spell out the new government’s sovereignty, UN Security Council diplomats said today.