At a time when Europe is making strenuous efforts to address the energy and cost of living crises against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis , and in a position reflecting the

widening rift between the two European powers ,a German - French meeting scheduled to be held next week was postponed, after Berlin considered that finding commonalities in a number of files requires "more time".

Steffen hipstreit, spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, did not disclose any details about the files on which the two governments have not reached an understanding, while acknowledging that there are "various issues that we are working on at the moment..We have not yet reached a unified position on it,"he said.

The parties concluded that it was "logical" to postpone the talks, which are scheduled to be hosted by France, to January

Hipstreit explained that Schulz will hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the EU summit, which will begin on Thursday

After talks with his German counterpart , French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire noted that the postponement was caused by "difficulties related to the agenda of some ministers", adding : "any political difficulties have nothing to do with it".

For its part, the French presidency said that it goes beyond the issue of scheduling

"Together we have decided that we need more time to achieve ambitious results that rise to the current challenges,"she added.

France and Germany have always sought to show unity in the face of a number of crises, with prior coordination of positions before major summits, but in recent weeks criticism has surfaced in several files, especially energy and defense