THE setting is Alpine, lakeside and romantic, perfect for a happy reunion. But whether Presidents Bush and Chirac can manage anything more than rictus grins when they pose for photographs by Lake Geneva is anyone’s guess.

The meeting in six weeks will be the first test of whether the transatlantic ructions over Iraq can become bygones, or if the bitterness will set the tone of Western diplomacy for the next decade. Washington will take critical steps today towards deciding whether, and how far, to take US retribution against France for what it regards as M Chirac’s obstructive role over Iraq.

In a mood of continued deep resentment towards Paris, senior Bush officials meeting in the White House are to address the future of the US-French relationship. The Pentagon is expected to push for curbs on French power in Nato, a limited or non-existent role for France in the reconstruction of Iraq, and a US boycott of the prestigious Paris Air Show.

Whether the hardliners win the day will be down to Mr Bush. But the fact that US officials are keen for France to know that such talks are taking place has Paris fretting.

“We will of course be interested in the outcome of the meeting,” said one French official, adding that there was concern as to whether the US agenda was “how to examine the French and American relationship, or how to punish France”.

With a delicious twist of irony, Mr Bush is obliged to travel to France at the beginning of June for the annual G8 meeting of the world’s most industrialised nations, which is being held in the small French resort of Evian-les-Bains.

All the main opponents of war in Iraq will be present — Germany and Russia in the French corner, Britain and Italy in the US corner, with Canada and Japan uneasily in the middle.

The meeting has all the makings of a diplomatic catastrophe unless all sides can agree in advance to bury their differences over Iraq. French nervousness has been heightened after Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush’s national security adviser, was quoted as outlining Washington’s post-Iraq policy towards its allies as “punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia”.

M Chirac made a guarded opening bid for peace when he picked up the telephone to Mr Bush on Tuesday. But their 20-minute conversation only appeared to underline the levels of mistrust and unease.

Jean-David Levitte, the French Ambassador, had to visit Mr Bush’s advisers in the White House more than once before Mr Bush agreed to take the call. Afterwards, an anxious M Levitte called Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, after his cool reflections on the chat.

In Paris, M Chirac’s spokeswoman described it as positive, whereas Mr Fleischer responded that it had been businesslike.

M Levitte was anxious to “get an American assessment of the phone call”, according to a French official. “We are keen to assess whether the phone call made the first step towards the renewed co-operation that is needed.”

But buoyed by the swift advances of coalition forces in Iraq and encamped in the political high ground, officials in Washington made clear that the French will have to do all the work to patch up relations. “The messages will have to come from them,” said one.

M Chirac has made the first move, dropping French opposition to the use of Nato forces in Afghanistan. French officials went further yesterday, saying Paris was prepared to consider a future Nato role in Iraq, an astonishing about-turn.

France’s opposition to deploying Nato forces in Turkey in advance of the Iraq war enraged US officials almost as much as its refusal to consider the use of force against Saddam Hussein. The French change of heart is aimed at trying to head off moves by Pentagon hawks to sideline France in Nato, concentrating the alliance’s decision-making in its defence committee, which France has opted out of, rather than its political forum.

Another key to whether Mr Bush is prepared to kiss and make up is how far France and Russia will go to help in the rebuilding of Iraq by writing off their multibillion-dollar debts in Baghdad.

But one of the main obstacles to an outbreak of warmth between M Chirac and Mr Bush is the former’s famed pride and the latter’s equally famed loathing of anything he regards as disloyalty. The summit photographs in six weeks’ time will speak volumes.

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