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French president Nicolas Sarkozy has met with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in an effort to secure the fragile relations between the two nations.

President Sarkozy is the first French leader to visit the African nation in 25 years, and the first to make an official visit since the 1994 genocide in the country.

Diplomatic relations between the countries feel apart after the atrocities when French authorities issued arrest warrants for eight of Kagames close confidantes in the aftermath, accusing them of playing a part in the assassination of the then president that sparked the genocidal uprising which killed 500,000 Rwandans.

Since then the Rwandan government has accused France of playing a role in the preparation of the militia men that carried out the attacks.

An investigation into the French involvement in 1998 saw a parliamentary committee conclude that the country did not bear any responsibility for the massacres.

The two countries began communications again in November after Rwanda conceded that the controversial warrants were the order of an independent judge made without the intervention of the state.

However the warrants remain outstanding, with one of Kagame’s supposed former consorts having been arrested in the country just last month.

President Sarkozy has told reporters that he is keen to foster a better relationship between the two nations.

The frosty relationship between France and Rwanda looks set for a thaw as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner pays a visit to the African nation.

The visit comes just months after the countries resumed diplomatic relations following a three-year hiatus called by Rwandan officials after a French curt issues arrest warrants for aides to the Rwandan president Paul Kagame.

French Judge Jean Louis Brugiere believed the aides could be implicated in the plot which brought down the plan carrying the late Rwandan president Jevenal Habyarimana in 1994 – an event that is believed to have played an instrumental role in the civil unrest that led to the mass genocide in the African nation 15 years ago.

However in Noevember the two countries began to talk again and yesterday Mr Kouchner met with his Rwandan counterpart, Louise Mushikiwabo in Kigali.

Speaking after the meeting Ms Mushikiwabo said: “We are convinced that out two countries must move forward together.

“We have a common history, we have had difficulties. We are ready to discuss them and move on. We are beginning a new phase in our shared history.”

Speaking on arrival in Kigali Mr Kounchner told reporters: “We are going to resume normal relations. We need to restore cultural and development programmes.

“With regard to the dark moment we need to ask historians, sociologists, witnesses and survivors to work together so that our countries know what happened.”

He added: “What happened in Rwanda concerns every inhabitant of this land. France is with you and I say this in the name of France of the past days, present and future.”