The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac have sought to soothe the acrimony generated by the war against Saddam Hussein at a one-day summit expected to focus on Iraq's reconstruction.
Chirac was welcomed to London with a guard of honour before heading into the prime minister's Downing Street office for about three hours of talks. French Prime Minister Pierre Raffarin will also take part in discussions.
The Anglo-French summit comes just three days after a state visit by US President George W. Bush and analysts say it will test to the limit Blair's claim to be able to act as a bridge between Europe and America.
Chirac was the most implacable opponent of the US-led conflict in Iraq and Anglo-French relations reached a low in the build-up to the war when London accused Paris of scuppering a United Nations resolution authorising military action.
There has been much fence-mending since then but tensions remain over Iraq and other issues, not least Franco-German plans for European Union defence that Washington fears could rival rather than complement NATO.
France and Germany want a planning and operational military headquarters for an EU force, independent of NATO, a move Britain opposes. Defence Minister Geoff Hoon will hold talks with his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie.
Blair and Chirac will also discuss the war on terror - brought into sharper focus by Thursday's attacks on British interests in Turkey - and the EU constitution that is being drafted to accommodate a larger bloc of 25 members.
Blair says full membership of the EU and its special relationship with Washington are the two pillars of British foreign policy and he has aspired to act as a go-between.
But with the European Union and United States at loggerheads over issues from US steel tariffs to Iraq, analysts say that position is increasingly uncomfortable to maintain.