WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- With bilateral ties between their states marked by ups and downs, U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday tried to show their tender sides of solidarity and friendship, at least in personal relations.

"I'm very grateful to have my dear friend, Nicolas Sarkozy, here," Obama said in his opening remarks at a meeting with the press after bilateral talks at the White House. "We don't have a stronger friend and a stronger ally than Nicolas Sarkozy and the French people."

Though France is seen as the U.S.' oldest ally, bilateral ties have been witnessing decades of ups and downs, which plummeted to an all-time low in 2003 due to France's stiff opposition to the U. S. invasion of Iraq.

Since Sarkozy took over as president in May 2007, France-U.S. relations have been on the steady mend. It is his second visit to Obama's Oval Office in less than one year, but their first meeting since the leak of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, in which Sarkozy was lauded for his pro-American stance and his pragmatism, but branded as " erratic and touchy" with a complex private life.

"We have cooperated over the last several years on dealing with a global economic crisis, dealing with the challenges of terrorism, dealing with a range of geopolitical issues from the Middle East to Iran to Afghanistan," Obama said about his French guest. "And I 've always found Nicolas to be an outstanding partner and an outstanding friend to the American people, as well as a leader on the world stage."
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