But after weeks of talks, senior officials voiced growing exasperation.
During the talks, senior Chinese military officials held their first meetings with American counterparts since the spat over arms sales to Taiwan in January.
"Hear me now, we condemn all sorts of secret talks!" Senior officials have accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of wanting to start such talks, stressing that decisions about potential relations with the United States can only be made by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Just hours before, Mr. Bush called President Jiang Zemin of China and offered to hold "high-level strategic talks," senior administration officials said.
Former president Fidel Castro was not involved in the talks, senior White House officials said.
We talk to senior management, but there is nothing that can be done.
"What we're hearing is a lot of talk," the senior Israeli security official said.
I recently gave a talk to senior women at a top Wall Street firm.
When you talk to senior officials in Finland, Singapore and South Korea, it's as if they're on another planet.
Also, talk to senior staff, and explain that you'd like to be involved in something school-wide.
