US President Barack Obama has met with French President Francois Hollande in Washington for the first time. He announced that this week's G8 summit will target ways to promote growth alongside budget cuts in Europe to help ease the eurozone crisis.

He said he and Hollande agree that the eurozone crisis is of extraordinary importance to the world economy. Hollande reminded Obama of his campaign pledge to remove French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.

The two leaders also discussed their shared concerns about Greece and the importance of keeping the country in the eurozone. The talks wrapped up just hours before the two leaders join other G8 leaders at Camp David on Friday.