President Joe Biden called Macron an American clumsy in the Australian submarine deal
President Joe Biden has told French President Emmanuel Macron that the United States was “clumsy” in its orchestration of the secret US-British submarine deal with Australia.
ROME – In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, President Joe Biden said the United States was “clumsy” in the orchestration of the secret US-British submarine deal with Australia, an arrangement that shook France and the United States. Shook Europe’s confidence in India’s loyalty .
President Joe Biden and Macron greeted
Biden and Macron greeted each other with a handshake and a shrug before their first face-to-face meeting. Pointing to Biden did not formally apologize to Macron, but acknowledged that the United States should not surprise its oldest ally.
“I think what happened to use the English phrase, what we did was clumsy,” Biden said, adding that the submarine deal was “not done with too much grace.”
“I was under the impression that France had been notified long ago,” he added.
The US-led agreement on submarines replaces the French agreement to supply Australia with its own diesel-powered submarines. The United States has argued that the move, which would equip the Pacific ally with high-powered nuclear-powered boats, would enable Australia to control Chinese aggression in the region.
Macron said the two allies would promote “strong co-operation” to prevent similar misunderstandings from recurring.
“Together we made clear what we needed to clarify,” he added when asked if US-France relations had improved. “The really important thing now is what we will do together in the coming weeks, in the coming months, in the coming years,” he said.
To that end, Macron’s goal for the meeting was to seek US intelligence and military support for French counterterrorism operations off the coast of Africa.
Macron praised Biden’s “extremely operational, very solid decisions” in recent weeks, which helped the French army fight, Islamic extremists, on the coast.
Biden and Macron also discussed new ways of cooperating in the Indo-Pacific, a move aimed at easing French anger over the withdrawal from the US-U.K-Australia partnership with Submarine Dale. Other items on the agenda include China, Afghanistan and Iran, as well as climate change ahead of next week’s UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Frenchman, who has lost more than 60 billion to the submarine deal, has argued that Biden’s administration misled him at the highest levels about negotiations with Australia and even criticized Biden’s own actions. Bombing predecessors are adopting the strategy of Donald Trump. . France is particularly angry that a major geopolitical shift has been kept in the dark, and ignores its interests in the Indo-Pacific – where France has a territory of 2 million people and 7,000 troops – Has been
The line-up challenged Biden’s cautious image of working to strengthen the Trans-Atlantic Alliance after Trump’s presidency, as France, for the first time in nearly 250 years of diplomatic relations, sent its ambassador to the United States. Pulled out in protest.
U.S. officials, from Biden to the bottom, have been working for weeks to reduce tensions, though not enough for Biden to visit France himself to try to restore ties with Paris. Instead, he sent Vice President Kamala Harris on a visit in early November.
With the exception of the White House, the Biden Macron meeting in Rome was hosted and hosted by France at the French Embassy in Villa Bonaparte, which the Macron office described as “politically important.” Meanwhile, First Lady Jill Biden was to host Bridget Macron for a “two-way engagement” on Friday afternoon.
Jack Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser, said the two leaders would “literally cover the water front on issues facing the US-France alliance”, including counter-terrorism in the Middle East, China and trade and economic issues.
“We are very pleased with the deep engagement we have had with France over the past few weeks,” he added.
Following their meeting, Biden and Macron were expected to issue a joint statement outlining areas of mutual cooperation, including the Indo-Pacific and economic and technical cooperation.
As the United States focuses on Asia, Macron seeks to bolster Europe’s independent defense capabilities, with more military equipment and military operations abroad.
France’s ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thibault, told the Associated Press earlier this month that France was determined to “add muscle” to China’s growing geo political strategy in Europe.
France wants Western allies to “divide roles” instead of competing against each other, and for Americans to be “as loyal as ever and as always for their European partners.” Stay allied.
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