THE U.S. and French presidents moved to mend ties Wednesday, with France agreeing to send its ambassador back to Washington and the White House acknowledging it erred in brokering a deal for Australia to buy U.S. instead of French submarines without consulting Paris.

In a joint statement issued after U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone for 30 minutes, the two leaders agreed to launch in-depth consultations to rebuild trust, and to meet in Europe at the end of October.

They said Washington had committed to step up “support to counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel conducted by European states” which U.S. officials suggested meant a continuation of logistical support rather than deploying U.S. special forces.

Biden’s call to Macron was an attempt to mend fences after France accused the United States of stabbing it in the back when Australia ditched a US$40 billion contract for conventional French submarines, and opted for nuclear-powered submarines to be built with U.S. and British technology instead. read more

Outraged by the U.S., British and Australian deal, France recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra.

“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,” the joint U.S. and French statement said.

“President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, interacting for the first time since the submarine crisis erupted, had a ‘good exchange’ on the margins of a wider meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday, a senior State Department official told reporters in a call.

China on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the cooperation between the United States, the U.K. and Australia on nuclear submarines, stating that it deliberately escalates regional tensions, provokes an arms race, threatens regional peace and stability, and undermines international nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

Answering a press question at a daily news briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said it is widely believed by the international community that the cooperation between the three countries poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation, in violation of the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). the statement said.

(SD-Agencies)