Nicolas Sarkozy finally gets a chance to talk to President Obama today. Phone calls between leaders may be routine, but so desperate is the French President to get time with "my friend Barack" that the Elysée Palace is casting today's video conference via interpreters as a virtual summit.

The coolness of the US President towards enthusiastic overtures from Paris is embarrassing Mr Sarkozy. It has dampened his hopes of finding a kindred dynamic soul in Washington and founding a new Paris-Washington axis. And it is leading him to realise that he will find few takers for his ambitious plans for "refounding capitalism" at the G20 summit in London next week.

China is out. After making waves over Tibet and human rights last year, France is in Beijing's doghouse and Mr Sarkozy is the only leader to have been refused a session in London with President Hu Jintao. Mr Sarkozy annoyed President Calderon of Mexico with his behaviour on a visit there this month. Turkey abhors Mr Sarkozy's permanent veto of its entry to the European Union. Relations with his European neighbours, Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel of Germany, are are not much better than "cordial", which is diplomatic for bumpy.

But it is Mr Obama's resistance to the persuasive charms of Super Sarko that is causing anguish at the Elysée. Mr Sarkozy has pulled out all the stops since the night of the US election, when he misspelt a congratulatory letter to "Dear Barak". French lobbying failed to win an invitation to the White House. While Mr Brown was being feted in Washington, Paris made known that Mr Obama would meet Mr Sarkozy on a Normandy beach on April 3 on his way to the Nato anniversary summit in Strasbourg. US advance parties even checked the local security and accommodation but Washington dropped the idea. It is now not even certain that Mr Obama will give Mr Sarkozy private time in the eastern French city.

Mr Sarkozy was gratified last week when Mr Obama welcomed his historic decision to take France back into the military command of the US-led Nato alliance. But the glow vanished when it became known on Friday that Mr Obama had sent an effusive letter to – of all people – Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy's bête noire, who did everything to stop his younger colleague succeeding him to the presidency in 2007.

"I am certain that over the coming four years, we will be able to work together in a spirit of peace and friendship in order to build a better world," Mr Obama wrote. Mr Chirac stuck it hard to his successor, saying in public how sympathique he had found Mr Obama's letter. It provided obvious fodder for the comedians, who wondered whether Mr Obama might be under the impression that the chief international opponent to President Bush's war in Iraq was still running France.

Nicolas Canteloup, a comedian who draws a huge audience with a breakfast radio impersonation of Mr Sarkozy, today imagined the President's phone call with Mr Obama. "Allo Barack, this is Nicolas ... you know, Little Big Man. You know me, the husband of Carla Bruni, you know, the bombshell."

Sensing the differences with Washington ahead of the London summit, Mr Sarkozy has toughened his rhetoric this week. In a speech on Tuesday night, he warned the Americans that the G20 must take action to "put morality back into financial capitalism". He added: "I will not associate myself with a world summit which decides to decide nothing."

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