Emmanuel Macron nabbed a prime spot between Boris Johnson and his climate summit co-host in an awkward moment at the G20.
Mr Johnson had to move aside to make room when the French President backed into a space between him and Italian President Mario Draghi, co-host of COP26 in Glasgow.
The pair shared a fist-bump by the Trevi Fountain in Rome, where leaders met to throw pennies over their shoulders into the water.
But the Tory leader looked surprised and did not talk to Mr Macron after the French President backed into the space.
Later Mr Macron appeared to speak briefly to the Prime Minister, though it was not clear if he was talking to another leader nearby.
Mr Johnson and Mr Macron met privately later this morning as they tried to ease a row about fishing rights in the Channel.
The Prime Minister was due to speak to the French President in an informal "brush-by" at the G20 summit in Rome - two days before a Tuesday deadline.
The PM accused the French of breaking international law during a G20 meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday.
His Brexit minister confirmed the UK is "actively considering" triggering a months-long legal dispute under the post-Brexit trade deal.
A source claimed Ms von der Leyen should rein in the French President, telling the Sunday Telegraph: "The EU needs to do something here because if France go ahead it will put the whole EU in breach."
France is threatening to block British boats from its ports and tighten checks on vessels if the issue is not resolved by Tuesday.
But Lord Frost claimed there was a "pattern" of French threats "to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation" and demanded the country "step back".
And he slammed a "very troubling and very problematic" letter from French PM Jean Castex, which urged the EU to show "leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it".
Boris Johnson yesterday squared up to Emmanuel Macron at the G20 in Rome. The pair shared a mock-combative fist bump - and later exchanged friendly pats on the back.
France - which fuelled the row by seizing a British trawler - insists it is not getting a fair number of licences to fish in British waters in a breach of the trade deal.
President Macron accused the UK of not keeping its Brexit pledges on fishing and said London lacked "credibility".
But Boris Johnson - previously accused of breaking international law himself over Brexit - claimed France “might” be breaching the trade deal.
He warned “I don’t rule out” triggering the dispute mechanism in the Trade and Co-Operation Agreement (TCA) “next week”.
That could lead to months of legal fights with 30 days of formal talks, 160 days of arbitration, a tribunal ruling and even compensation.
Mr Johnson admitted the relationship had hit "turbulence" while his spokesman said French comments had not been “appropriate”.
The PM accused the French of breaking international law yesterday in a G20 meeting with European Commission President Ms von der Leyen.
He told her “the French threats are completely unjustified and do not appear to be compatible with the TCA or wider international law,” No10 said.
He claimed the UK had granted 98% of applications for EU boats to fish in UK waters, and the UK said it had granted three more in the last few days.
Ms von der Leyen responded: "The EU Commission is intensively engaging for finding solutions."
The row has overshadowed Boris Johnson's bid to seek more ambitious climate goals from countries like Australia and China.
The row has overshadowed Boris Johnson's bid to seek more ambitious climate goals from countries like Australia and China.
Leaders are discussing the climate at the G20 today but are not expected to unveil new targets before the 12-day COP26 summit kicks off in Glasgow tomorrow.
Britain's COP26 President Alok Sharma told Sky News: "This is on the world leaders at the end of the day.
"They made the commitments in Paris that we would limit temperature rises to well below three degrees, see efforts to 1.5 and now in Glasgow they have to do that.
"We have got the G20 ongoing right now and those world leaders will arrive here tomorrow for the World Leaders Summit and my message for them is very clear.
"Leave the ghosts of the past behind you, let’s focus on the future and unite around this one issue that we know matters to all of us which is protecting our precious planet.”
