Chirac snub deepens rift

A week of frantic diplomacy by Tony Blair got off to a rocky start today as relations between Britain and France hit a new low.

The French president delivered a snub by apparently refusing to say if he would hold a joint press conference with the Prime Minister after talks tomorrow.

The unprecedented move by Jacques Chirac came as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw attacked him as "deluded" for campaigning to end Britain's £3 billion EU rebate.

In a further blow for Mr Blair when he reaches a critical EU summit on Friday, other countries looked set to refuse to declare the stalled European constitution dead. Instead they look likely to lengthen the deadline for the treaty to be ratified following the crisis caused by the French and Dutch no votes. This creates the possibility of a second French vote under a successor to Mr Chirac.

The effect, however, would be to leave the controversial treaty hanging over Mr Blair for up to two years, throwing the spotlight at this week's talks onto the EU budget and the British rebate.

Mr Blair was today holding talks with Russia's president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the first leg of a four-city, twoday tour which will also take him to Berlin, Luxembourg and Paris. Originally planned to map out the agenda for next month's G8 summit in Gleneaglesthe 3,500-mile trip was being overshadowed by the rift with France. Downing Street said Mr Blair will still hold a press conference in Paris if Mr Chirac refused to share a platform with him.

Mr Blair is hoping to use a private dinner with Chancellor Schr?der to build bridges before the Brussels summit on Thursday. But there have been few signs so far of the German leader peeling away from his "Old Europe" ally Mr Chirac.

The depth of animosity between Mr Chirac and Mr Blair suggests a deal on the EU budget is increasingly unlikely.

Downing Street insisted it would only consider discussing Britain's rebate if France would consider reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy - a suggestion dismissed by Mr Chirac. Downing Street stressed it was no longer content for the policy to swallow 40 per cent of EU funding mainly for the benefit of the French.

"We have to address the issues in Europe and that cannot be done where 40 per cent of the EU budget is used to address the problem of five per cent of the population," said Mr Blair's spokesman.

Nor was the meeting with Mr Putin likely to offer much comfort. Mr Blair's spokesman said there are worries over Russia's commitment to democracy and human rights and the recent trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil billionaire whose Yukos company was seized and sold off by the Kremlin.