French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday stressed the need to converge with Germany and "put beside rivalry" between Berlin and Paris.

Speaking to the state-owned TV channel France 2, Sarkozy highlighted the necessity of a "total and complete alliance between France and Germany" in order to stem the eurozone debt crisis.

"We don't seek for who will win and who will lose. They would be only losers if we had argued, but there are only winners if we work together," Sarkozy said.

Facing criticism of stepping into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's shoes, Sarkozy defended his policy of convergence with Berlin as "to focus and see what to do for the good of (both) countries and also for Europe."

"In convergence there is no imitation. We have to learn from Germany," Sarkozy said in a joint interview with Merkel, adding that the two countries "have to work hand in hand and put beside the rivalries."