No details on their meeting were given, but the talks will come after Struck meets US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington this weekend in an effort to improve damaged relations between the United States and Germany.

Germany and France strongly opposed the US-led war on Iraq and the two were among four European Union members to take part in a mini-defence summit in Belgium on Tuesday.

During their summit, the leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg -- all opponents of the war -- called for a European defence command headquarters to be set up to coordinate a fledgling EU rapid reaction force.

Critics have said that the half-day summit risks provoking new rifts in both transatlantic and European relations.

SPACE.WIRE