France's Sarkozy, Merkel meet on eurozone crisis

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks Wednesday to seek a solution to the eurozone debt crisis in Frankfurt. Neither side made any comment on the talks which lasted for nearly two hours and were held on the sidelines of an European Central Bank (ECB) gala in honour of its outgoing president. Sarkozy's office said earlier that no statement was planned. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet, his replacement Mario Draghi, European Union head Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde, chief of the eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker and the French and German finance ministers also took part in what Sarkozy's office called an "informal meeting". Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was admitted to a maternity clinic in Paris on Wednesday, where the president briefly visited her amid speculation that she was about to give birth. At the gala Merkel expressed confidence Europe would resolve its current crisis. And she said that Europe should not shy away from changing its rules in the long run. Trichet, who turns 69 in December, is scheduled to hand over the reins of the ECB to Italy's Draghi on October 31.