French President Mr Jacques Chirac said today his country and Britain agreed Iraq should be disarmed through the UN Security Council.
But he said the two countries had "different approaches" to the Iraqi crisis.
"As far as Iraq is concerned, we have different approaches but first and foremost we have two convictions which are fundamental and are shared," Mr Chirac told a news conference following talks with British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair.
"The first is that we have to disarm Iraq, and the second conviction that we share is that this has to be undertaken within the Security Council of the United Nations. Regarding that, we are entirely in agreement," he said.
Mr Chirac welcomed the British prime minister to the seaside resort of Le Touquet five days after Mr Blair secured tentative US support for a new United Nations resolution ahead of any military action. Britain hopes to soften France's rejection of war.
Mr Chirac added that he would decide "when the time comes and given the circumstances" whether Paris would use its UN Security Council veto on a resolution on Iraq.
Speaking after the meeting Mr Blair also said that any decision on action against Iraq has to be taken by the United Nations.
Mr Blair said, despite their differences, he and Mr Chirac had both expressed "support for the notion of disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and the belief that this is best pursued" through the United Nations.