State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the phone conversation between Powell and de Villepin, visiting Amman, Jordan, as part of a Middle East tour, was "reflective of the current relationship we have with France."

He described the relationship as uneasy, saying the nations remain allies with certain shared values, but ties have been badly damaged by recent "serious and difficult" disagreements.

"Understand that we did have these disagreements, understand that they were serious and difficult and that that has consequences for the future," Boucher said.

"There is obviously an effect on the relationship, on how we look at things, how we evaluate things and how we look at things we might want to do as we move forward."

At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer downplayed the idea that Washington was seeking to punish Paris but acknowledged France would feel the consequences of its antiwar stance.

"Issue by issue, different issues will arise and will be judged on the merits," he said. "And we shall see when that happens."

Neither Fleischer nor Boucher would say what measures Washington would take. Senior State Department officials earlier said Powell was not in a position to tell de Villepin exactly what they would be.

But those officials said steps under consideration included sidelining France at NATO and excluding Paris or limiting its presence at US-sponsored and -hosted international forums.

One possibility would be to expand the so-called informal "quad" grouping of NATO's biggest and most influential members -- Britain, France, Germany and the United States -- to include Italy, Poland and Spain, they said.

The quad is widely believed to be a major force in shaping NATO policy but it activities are kept low-key so as not to offend other alliance members.

So the first public manifestation of the measures will likely be at NATO, where one official said Washington might bypass the alliance's traditional governing body, the North Atlantic Council, in favor of the Defense Planning Committee, from which France resigned in 1966.

"Look at how we handle some issues at NATO," the official said.

A second official said the United States might try to downgrade or eliminate French participation in consultative groups on the sidelines of UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meetings.

In an interview with PBS television Tuesday, Powell became the most senior member of President George W. Bush's administration to say France would face consequences for opposing the US war effort.

"We have to take a look at the relationship," Powell said. "We have to look at all aspects of our relationship with France in light of this."

Asked directly whether Paris would be punished, he replied bluntly: "Yes."

Boucher said Powell and de Villepin had chuckled over some accounts of the interview in French newspapers, including one that suggested the secretary's response was the equivalent of another three-letter word: war.

"They kind of laughed about some of the exaggerated press reporting of what 'yes' means," he said. "They are both three-letter words, I guess, but one should understand that there can be consequences without war."

The two also discussed the Middle East and current issues at the United Nations related to Iraq including the lifting of sanctions, Boucher said.

France Tuesday issued a surprise proposal to suspend the sanctions, but the United States, citing the fall of Saddam Hussein, is demanding they be completely lifted.

Boucher offered a bit of an olive branch to the French, saying Paris' proposal "is ... a move in our view in the right direction. It's the recognition that there is a changed situation."

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