POTSDAM, June 21: Crunch talks between four key players in the World Trade Organisation on a global trade deal collapsed on Thursday, sending hopes for an accord this year into a tailspin.

The negotiations between the United States, the European Union, Brazil and India in Potsdam, eastern Germany ruptured on the same faultlines that have kept a deal elusive for nearly six years: farm subsidies and open markets.

In Washington US President George W. Bush accused Brazil and India of fighting for their own interests at the expense of poorer countries.

“The president is disappointed that certain countries are blocking an opportunity to expand trade,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

“Large economies like Brazil and India should not stand in the way of progress for smaller, poor developing nations, but that appears to be what happened in Germany this week.”

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, flanked by Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, said in Potsdam: “It was useless to continue the discussion given what was on the table.”

He said differences over Western state backing for farmers -- a recurrent bone of contention in the current Doha round of trade talks launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 -- were to blame for the failure of the Potsdam huddle.

The talks, which also included US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, were originally scheduled to run until Saturday.

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy tried to put a brave face on the breakdown, saying a global deal was still possible.

“Convergence among these members would have been helpful to pave the way towards multilateral convergence,” Lamy, who did not take part in the talks, said in a statement from Geneva.

—AFP