Representatives from 11 European countries, Russia, Canada and Japan "stressed the importance of achieving full and effective utilization of the ISS," said a US official on the condition on anonymity.

NASA's space station budget was cut by five billion dollars at the end of 2001. It has announced that it will be reducing its budgetary input, but has yet to let its partners know by how much.

During the meeting at the State Department, which lasted five hours and was described as "very constructive," NASA discussed "the timeline for completing the review" with its partners, after which there will be a meeting of heads of space agencies," the same source said.

The potential consequences of a cut in NASA's contribution include cancelling the construction of the station's emergency evacuation vessel and an accommodation module for the permanent ISS crew.

The crew in turn could be reduced seven members to three, a matter of particular concern to the Europeans.

But, noted one European official, all of these cuts would only add up to five percent of the station's total budget.

The station's partners asked Washington not to make any unilateral decisions "that affect the program in the future and could not be reversed after discussions among the partners," the US official said.

The last intergovernmental meeting of this kind was in 1998. It was a ministerial level meeting that including the heads of each countries' space agencies, and outlined each countries' roles and responsibilities in the construction and subsequent use of the station.

A total of 16 countries are collaborating on the station which is scheduled for completion in 2006 at an estimated cost of 60-96 billion dollars.

Brazil is the 16th country involved with the station, but is not an official partner.