OTSU, Japan — Officials from the “Group of Eight” major industrialized countries completed two days of talks here with a statement saying that they hoped to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming by 2002, although the United States and Canada both opposed a deadline.

The protocol requires the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 7% below the 1990 level.

A top U.S. official noted that the administration is committed to ratifying the protocol “as soon as we are able to answer some of the key issues, such as participation by developing countries.”

The meeting in Japan was a preliminary to the sixth Conference of the Parties, which is set for Nov. 13-24 in The Hague, Netherlands.

Group of Eight countries include Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States.