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dpa
Washington
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet next month in Europe as they try to reset relations following an acrimonious fallout over Washington’s deal to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
The White House said the two spoke on the phone on Wednesday “to discuss the implications” of the deal, which infuriated France because it led to the cancellation of its own agreement to sell conventional diesel-powered submarines to Australia.
The submarine sale was part of a new Indo-Pacific security pact among the US, Britain and Australia that was announced one week ago.
The trio of governments had held no prior consultations with European partners over the alliance, called AUKUS, which aims to deter China’s growing military influence in the region.
Paris said it had been blindsided and recalled the French ambassadors to Washington and Canberra.
The French foreign minister called it “a slap in the face” and compared the Biden administration’s move to the “unilateral, brutal and unpredictable” decisions of former president Donald Trump.
The White House statement admitted the submarine deal could have been handled better: “The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefited from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners. President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”
The French ambassador will return to Washington next week, the statement said, adding that the sides will “open a process of in-depth consultations” to restrengthen ties.
France had inked a 56-billion-euro (66-billion-dollar) deal in 2016 to provide Australia with 12 French-designed conventional submarines, which have a more limited range and speed than nuclear-powered ones.
“This contract was not only a contract; it was a cornerstone of our Indo-Pacific strategy presented by our president in Sydney,” the French ambassador to the US, Philippe Etienne, said in an interview this week with US National Public Radio.
“So there is a lack of transparency. There is a breach of trust.
There is unpredictability. But there is also inconsistency because France is very active in the Indo-Pacific area. And so should allies behave between themselves, among themselves, like that?” he said.
Washington
US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet next month in Europe as they try to reset relations following an acrimonious fallout over Washington’s deal to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
The White House said the two spoke on the phone on Wednesday “to discuss the implications” of the deal, which infuriated France because it led to the cancellation of its own agreement to sell conventional diesel-powered submarines to Australia.
The submarine sale was part of a new Indo-Pacific security pact among the US, Britain and Australia that was announced one week ago.
The trio of governments had held no prior consultations with European partners over the alliance, called AUKUS, which aims to deter China’s growing military influence in the region.
Paris said it had been blindsided and recalled the French ambassadors to Washington and Canberra.
The French foreign minister called it “a slap in the face” and compared the Biden administration’s move to the “unilateral, brutal and unpredictable” decisions of former president Donald Trump.
The White House statement admitted the submarine deal could have been handled better: “The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefited from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners. President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”
The French ambassador will return to Washington next week, the statement said, adding that the sides will “open a process of in-depth consultations” to restrengthen ties.
France had inked a 56-billion-euro (66-billion-dollar) deal in 2016 to provide Australia with 12 French-designed conventional submarines, which have a more limited range and speed than nuclear-powered ones.
“This contract was not only a contract; it was a cornerstone of our Indo-Pacific strategy presented by our president in Sydney,” the French ambassador to the US, Philippe Etienne, said in an interview this week with US National Public Radio.
“So there is a lack of transparency. There is a breach of trust.
There is unpredictability. But there is also inconsistency because France is very active in the Indo-Pacific area. And so should allies behave between themselves, among themselves, like that?” he said.
