Non proliferation would be discussed at G8: Obama

US President Barack Obama, who intends to aggressively pursue non-proliferation as an agenda, has said the issue will figure prominently when top eight economic powers of the world meet at the G-8 Summit in Italy later this month.

Obama said he had discussions with visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the issue in the backdrop of nuclear tests conducted by North Korea and Iran's insistence to go ahead with its atomic programme.

"We had an extensive discussion about my interest in pursuing non-proliferation as an important agenda for all people," Obama told reporters in a joint media availability with Berlusconi.

"Given that I'll be visiting Russia before I visit Italy for the G8, Prime Minister Berlusconi, who has strong relationships with the Russians, was able to offer some insight in terms of how to approach reductions in nuclear arsenals," Obama said.

"That hopefully is going to be a topic at the G8 summit, as well," he said.

The G8 summit will be held later this month in Italy, where representatives of Cananda, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US will converge to discuss among other things the global economic crisis.