Schroeder: U.S. ties not broken
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Schroeder said there had been 'exaggerated utterances.'
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About 82 percent of Germans don't believe lasting peace will come to Iraq. Most are also skeptical of U.S. motives. CNN's Stephanie Halasz reports.
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BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- U.S.-German relations were not seriously damaged by the difference of opinions over war in Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said.
In an interview with the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel published Saturday he said there had been "exaggerated utterances" that he has "very much regretted," but he expressed confidence that differences could be worked out.
"The difference of opinions, as serious as they may be, does not damage the trans-Atlantic relationship," the chancellor said.
"I think the political leaders on both sides are professional enough to know that this relationship is on solid ground," he added.
Germany, along with France and Russia, took strong stands against the U.S.-led war effort because it did not have U.N. backing.
The three countries had pursued diplomatic efforts against any U.N. resolution that would have authorized force, insisting that peaceful efforts to disarm Iraq had not been exhausted.
Schroeder's comments in the interview were the furthest he has gone towards trying to overcome those differences with the United States since the war began.
"I generally have no difficulties with maintaining the contact with the American president, which is necessary and desired," Schroeder said.
"But this question, for example, on measuring the length of a handshake is absurd."
That does not mean he believes there is nothing to rectify, the chancellor said.
"When someone has a difference of opinion, there is always something to rework."
-- CNN International writer Kathleen Saal contributed to this report.
