Tony Blair is meeting with his Spanish ally Jose Maria Aznar in Downing Street today amid continuing diplomatic efforts to heal recent rifts between Europe and the US.

Iraq and the Middle East are set to dominate the discussion, but the two prime ministers are also likely to discuss pan-European relations.

Arriving in Downing Street having held talks in Paris, Aznar has strong reasons to seek consensus on the next diplomatic steps as, like Blair, he defied public opinion at home to support military action.

The prime minister's official spokesman said that Blair and Aznar would use their meeting to discuss the Middle East peace process, and a range of European Union issues.

Number 10 said that the British government was keen to see sanctions against Iraq lifted, but added that it would have to be done through the processes of the United Nations.

"We do want to see sanctions lifted because of the changed situation," the spokesman said.

"But the best way to do that is through discussions at the UN, because there are complex dove-tailing, sequencing issues, how it works with the oil for food programme, and that is quite a complex issue. We will address that issue through the UN."

Although French President Jacques Chirac and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder both opposed the war, the first signs of a rapprochement emerged on Tuesday.

Paris joined London and Washington in calling for UN sanctions on Iraq to be lifted in order to help with the reconstruction of the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

The issue has been in danger of re-opening splits in the security council, with Russia among those arguing that sanctions were imposed because of weapons of mass destruction and should not be lifted until it becomes clear what has happened to the arsenal.

Schroeder has also predicted that US-German relations will recover from recent events.

The British and Spanish leaders are also likely to discuss hopes of progress in the Middle East peace process.

They will focus on the approaching deadline which requires Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister-in-waiting, to appoint his Cabinet by midnight on Wednesday.

If agreement is secured Bush has promised to publish the long awaited "road map" outlining the next steps towards a Palestinian state.

However Abbas has been thwarted in his attempts to build a team by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

With Abbas expected to resign before taking up the appointment, Blair made a personal appeal to Arafat not to scupper the deal.

Blair called Arafat on Tuesday and "exchanged views on the continuing process of the appointment of a Cabinet for the Palestinian Authority" according to a Downing Street spokesman.

Both Blair and Aznar see the issue of Palestine as crucial to winning round public opinion in the Middle East and appeasing critics at home.

The two leaders, who have formed a close bond across a range of issues within the European Union, will hope their joint leverage will persuade Bush to stick to his commitments in delivering the road map and seeking an end to the conflict with Israel.