"There is no conflict, the President and I are here with the task to lobby for Croatia's non-permanent membership in the Security Council in 2008," Sanader told Croatian reporters in New York.
"It is slightly unusual for diplomatic practice, but it is also very successful because both of us will today meet US President George W. Bush, I will meet him at a round table discussion, and (President Mesic) will meet him at a formal reception and a dinner," Sanader said.
He underlined that Croatia's membership of the UN Security Council in 2008/2009 would be very important because it would coincide with the final stage of negotiations with the European Union.
The PM cited a recent interview by the US Ambassador to Croatia as evidence that there was no disagreement between him and Mesic regarding their visit to the United States, and that both would meet President Bush.
Sanader welcomed Mesic's participation in the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Cuba and his meetings with a number of leaders of non-aligned countries as a "great success".
"Every vote counts in the UN and when a decision is made by the General Assembly on whether Croatia will be a member of the Security Council, each vote will be important," he said, adding that he would explain this to US officials and that he believed that they would support it "because they know that we are fighting for our interests as they are for theirs".
Sanader's claim that there was no disagreement between him and President Mesic was confirmed by their joint meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi before the start of the UN General Assembly session.
The meeting focused on Italy's support to Croatia's candidacy for non-permanent membership on the Security Council and the three officials agreed about the need to intensify dialogue on the settlement of outstanding issues between the two countries.
Mesic and Sanader were also due to attend the inaugural plenary session of the UN General Assembly, after which Sanader, together with 25 world leaders, was to attend a round table discussion on democracy hosted by President Bush.
Before the start of the UN General Assembly session, Mesic and Sanader had brief informal meetings with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, Ghana's President J. A. Kufuor, El Salvador's President Elias Antonio Saca, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic and Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.