French President Jacques Chirac urged all sides in Ivory Coast's crisis to resume talks as he opened a summit of French-speaking countries snubbed by the Ivorian delegation.
The Ivorian delegation angrily pulled out of the summit after police in the host nation Burkina Faso confiscated CDs and documents from its top representative.
The summit will focus on the latest turmoil in Ivory Coast, which flared up earlier this month after an Ivorian raid on a French base killed nine peacekeepers and France destroyed most of the West African country's air force in retaliation.
The main city Abidjan then erupted in mob violence targeting the former colonial power's citizens and their property.
Mr Chirac said the meeting had to deliver to Ivory Coast a "firm but friendly message" so the different parties refrain from violence and resume dialogue.
"A few hours by road from here, one of us is going through a profound crisis which mobilises the whole of the international community ... determined to do all it can to stop the spiral of self-destruction of a country so close and so dear to us," Mr Chirac said.
He defended France's policy, saying Paris was Ivory Coast's friend and only wanted to avert chaos.
The 25 leaders at the summit are widely expected to condemn the Ivorian government for shattering an 18-month truce to bomb the rebel-held north and to express support for France, which Ivorian authorities have accused of overreacting.
From Paris, rebel leader Mr Guillaume Soro reiterated that President Laurent Gbagbo must cede power for peace to return to the world's top cocoa grower, split in two since 2002.
"The international community should push the Ivorian political actors towards a political, peaceful solution ... without Mr Gbagbo," he said.