US Secretary of State Colin Powell's talks with his EU and NATO counterparts this week provided "an opportunity" for reconciliation, but Europeans remain wary.

"There is far from unanimity on the two sides of the Atlantic over what the UN's role will be," said the French daily Le Figaro.

"The Americans and the Old bloc saw eye-to-eye on the easiest issue, humanitarian aid," said Italy's Corriere della Sera. "But differences remain at the heart of the post-war problem."

In his first foreign trip since war started, Powell held a marathon day of talks in Brussels Thursday, meeting 20 European ministers in barely 12 hours.

The day of back-slapping was designed to begin healing the wounds of a crisis which strained transatlantic ties almost to breaking point when Washington went to war on on March 20.

Powell's talks, including meetings with key anti-war Europeans including French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and Russia's Igor Ivanov, were broadly welcomed.

"Powell's trip should be understood as an opportunity," said the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

But European diplomats remain on their guard. "We are keeping a low profile, but we are wary of America's ulterior motives," said one, cited by the French daily Liberation.

After the Brussels talks, which comes as the war in Iraq enters a decisive phase with the Battle for Baghdad, Powell sought a conciliatory tone, saying the UN would "definitely" have a role.

But he insisted that the US-led coalition, which is spilling blood in the war on Iraq, should spearhead the post-conflict phase. "I think the coalition has to play the leading role in determining the way forward," he said.

This falls well short of European demands for a "central" role for the UN in post-war Iraq.

In Greece, the pro-government daily Ta Nea blasted Powell as "intransigent" over the post-war issue.

In an editorial entitled "the gap," the independent Greek daily Eleftherotypia said Thursday's talks had "confirmed that chaos separates the positions of Europe and the United States."

While the state of Europe-US relations was the focus of most comment, some also remarked on attempts to bridge gaps within Europe -- and underlined Britain's potentially pivotal role.

"Without managing to ease anger on two sides of the Atlantic .. (the Brussels meeting) showed that the Europeans are working to narrow their points of view," said the Swiss daily Le Temps.

"The British in particular have been trying for some time to calm differences in Europe," it added.

This view was echoed by the Italian daily La Repubblica, which stressed that reconciliation between Britain and France could be a key to a wider easing of tensions.

"The Franco-British locomotive is the only force which can drag the EU out of the swamp of divisions into which it drove due to divisions over the war," it said.

The Spanish daily El Mundo said Powell's visit marked "a return to diplomacy" which should allow "a meeting point to be found among those countries which have sharply diverged since the decision to go to war."

But at least one commentator warned of the risk of a fresh rift over a US proposal for NATO to have a possible peacekeeping role in post-war Iraq.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, whose country joined France and Belgium in plunging NATO into an unprecedented crisis over its role in Iraq in February, said he was "skeptical" about the plan.

"Another row risks erupting soon: about a NATO involvement after the end of hostilities," said the Belgian daily Le Soir.

EU candidates states, many of whom signed a controversial letter backing the US before the war started, also watched the Brussels talks closely. And they acknowledged that strains remain.

"The United States and Europe did not understand each other," said Bulgaria's biggest-selling daily Troud.

SPACE.WIRE