Bush, Brazil's Lula urge renewed push for Doha

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, July 17 (Reuters) U.S. President George W. Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday urged a redoubling of efforts to break the impasse in talks toward a global trade pact.

Silva warned at the start of a meeting with Bush on the fringes of a Group of Eight summit in Russia that negotiators were running out of options.

''I am convinced that now is the time for us to make a political decision,'' the Brazilian leader said, adding that negotiators ''don't have any hidden cards in their pockets'' so it was critical for leaders to get involved.

The stalled Doha round of world trade talks was high on the agenda on the final day of the G8 summit. On Sunday, the leaders instructed their negotiators to try to finalise a framework for the stalled pact within a month.

''We're committed to a successful Doha round,'' Bush said, adding that he hoped to discuss with Silva ways to move the negotiations forward.

Agricultural tariffs and farm subsidies remain the key roadblocks to attempts to get a deal.

If no breakthrough comes in the next few weeks, experts say there is a risk the whole round could be put on ice for several years as the U.S. president's ''fast track'' power to approve trade deals without a vote in Congress expires in mid-2007.

REUTERS SBA VP1228