Virginia U.S. Sen. MarkWarner retains hope sequestration and $500 billion in federal defense cuts won’t happen.

Speaking by phone on Friday,Warner said amore definitive solution to reducing the federal debt could be offered to either President Obama or President-elect Mitt Romney the day after the November election.

“I don’t want sequester to happen,’’ said Warner, who has worked toward a bipartisan debt solution since taking office in 2009.

Warner said a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan would involve entitlement reform, elimination of some tax deductions and cuts in spending, including defense spending.

Under the scenario Warner offered, there would be defense cuts but not the $50 billion a year that are now scheduled to happen.

Obama is not responsible for the impasse on cuts,Warner said.

“We now have some people who want to kick the can to say this is laying at the president’s doorstep instead of the Democratic and Republican leadership,’’ he said.

Blaming Obama is a revision of history,Warner said.

Warner said he is “obsessively crazed” about solving the debt situation.

He said it should not be a case of Democrats or Republicans gaining an advantage.

Getting the country’s fiscal house in order “will do more to create jobs’’ than anything else,Warner said.