Presidents George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac took centre stage at the G8 summit in France today with a cordial tete-a-tete seen as a test of US-French ties after the Iraq feud.
Mr Bush, infuriated by Mr Chirac's opposition to the war, told the French leader in their first meeting in six months that the Iraq episode had been "difficult" but that they should now focus on the future.
"There is no question where Jacques Chirac stood and I made it clear where I stood. That's why I can say we've got good relations, because we are able to be very honest with each other," the US leader said.
"I know there's a lot of people in both our countries wondering whether or not we're going to actually sit down and have a comfortable conversation," Mr Bush said before the meeting.
"The answer is absolutely, we can have disagreements but that doesn't mean that we have to be disagreeable to each other."
The global fight against terror, arms proliferation and regional conflicts in Iraq, the Middle East and North Korea also topped a full agenda for the second day of the Group of Eight summit in the French spa resort of Evian.
Mr Bush, leaving the G8 summit early for his first foray into the troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, said he was confident of making "some progress" in the Middle East but acknowledged his mission would be difficult
After a day devoted to discussions with leaders from emerging and developing states, focusing on AIDS and boosting aid to the poor, the G8 today sat down for talks on the global economy and exchange rates.
Mr Bush told his G8 partners that the United States would continue to pursue a strong dollar policy, a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said, while France reported that the leaders had a "consensus approach" on exchange rates.
G8 leaders also delivered a blunt warning to North Korea and Iran - members of Mr Bush's so-called "axis of evil" -- about their nuclear programmes in a final summit statement on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
But efforts by the G8 partners to repair relationships badly damaged over Iraq - especially ties between the United States and France - remained the overriding theme of the summit.
Controversy is still raging over the failure to find evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction, the key justification for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who held breakfast talks with his top ally Mr Bush, insisted that Iraq had illegal weapons and told critics to be patient while the hunt for the arms continued.
"I stand absolutely, 100 per cent behind the evidence, based on intelligence that we presented to people," a visibly angry Blair said, urging "patience" as the hunt for weapons continued.
Africa - which G8 host Mr Chirac wants to be a priority of the summit - was again on the agenda for today, after a handful of African presidents joined in yesterday's discussions.
South African President Thabo Mbeki announced the European Union had agreed to commit one billion dollars a year to a global fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the G8 not to lose sight of the developing world, urging rich states to slash farm subsidies and boost debt relief.
Among other invited leaders was Chinese President Hu Jintao, making his first foreign foray since his appointment in March. He held talks with Mr Bush focusing on the North Korean nuclear crisis but left Monday to continue his tour to Kazakhstan. AFP