The foreign ministers of France and Syria have met in Paris to prepare July 12 talks between Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Bashar Assad, the Associated Press reported. The two presidents are to meet in Paris on the eve of a summit of dozens of leaders of European and Mediterranean countries. The French Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Bernard Kouchner and his counterpart, Walid al-Mouallem, used their working dinner Friday to discuss the Middle East peace process _ but made no mention of a Syrian-Israeli encounter.