WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It makes no sense for the United States to push Europe harder to solve its debt crisis, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.

While the United States has a clear interest in making the euro-zone monetary union more viable, “we can’t want this more than them. … We can’t make these choices for them,” he remarked in a talk to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“There are people who say we should be louder in telling them what to do. I don’t think so,” Geithner added. “There are people who say we should go write them a check so they don’t have to write a larger check to help underpin monetary union. I don’t see how that’s defensible.”

Bank plans for potential Gre-xit

If the world tries to limit the burden on how to fix the euro zone, the commitment from the region itself would seem weaker, he noted.

Geithner’s comments were a rare public defense of the Obama administration’s decision to move cautiously on Europe, at least in public, while working behind the scenes to keep reform efforts on track while trying to limit market concerns from impacting the U.S. economy.

President Barack Obama departed from this strategy last Friday when he went to the White House press room and urged Greece to stay in the euro zone. Read how Obama takes more strident tone with Europe.

Even as Geithner spoke, the outlook for the continent turned increasingly bleak.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Spain’s credit rating to Baa3 from A3 and warned that the region may be cut to junk. Cyprus also had its rating lowered.

“It is still a challenging moment for the global economy,” according to Geithner.

Treasury’s Timothy Geithner Reuters

European leaders recognize they “are going to have to do a bunch more to restore calm,” he said, and that the attitude of European leaders was now “different.”

“They are not minimizing the risks. They are not telling us that they feel they have a whole bunch of time to wait.”

The Group of 20 meeting in Mexico on June 18 and 19 will be a good place for the world to hear from Europe on the reform steps they plan to take at the European leaders summit later in the month, he indicated.

A stronger commitment to financial union, a stronger firewall to limit contagion and some emphasis on growth over austerity would be good next steps, the Treasury secretary said.

Geithner called moves toward closer banking ties in Europe “really important.”

Spain’s acceptance of a bailout of its banking sector “is a good concrete signal” because it illustrates Europe’s commitment to move toward a broader banking union.

Geithner defended Germany, saying it has a “very reasonable position” in committing more resources to the euro zone once needed reforms are locked in place, he commented.

“It is not just about Germany. It requires other countries to move toward them,” he added.

Most forecasters expect the U.S. economy will growth at a roughly 2% rate over the next year and a half, Geithner said.

“That growth is not strong enough to make a lot more progress” on bringing down the unemployment rate, he remarked, reiterating the White House call for Congress to take steps to strengthen the labor market.

Growth is slowing “a bit” in most of the major countries of the world, he noted.

In August 2010, Geithner penned an opinion in the New York Times titled “Welcome to the Recovery.” Since he wrote the essay, growth has averaged only a 2.1% annual rate.