US : President Joe Biden acknowledged Wednesday his administration should have consulted with the French government before announcing a new trilateral security pact with Australia and the United Kingdom, which saw Australia renege on a multibillion-dollar submarine deal with France.
According to a joint statement released by the White House describing a phone call between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron — which the statement noted came at Biden’s request — they “agreed that the situation would have benefitted 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 statement also announced plans for Biden and Macron to meet in Europe at the end of October, as well as Macron’s decision that French Ambassador to the United States Philippe Étienne would return to his post in Washington next week. The envoy had been recalled last Friday amid the diplomatic row.
“The two leaders have decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives,” the statement said, adding that Biden and Macron’s planned meeting next month was intended “to reach shared understandings and maintain momentum in this process.”
