According to a joint statement between the White House and the French Elysee released Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to send his ambassador to the United States back to Washington. “He will then start intensive work with senior US officials,” to work on mending the relationship between the two countries, the statement said. It was released after a phone call between Macron and President Joe Biden earlier in the day.
The video above shows White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki discussing the details of the phone.
The relationship had been strained following the U.S. announcement of a new Indo-Pacific defense deal last week. As part of the deal, Australia will cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines, going with U.S. nuclear-powered submarines instead.
At the time, France’s Foreign Minister described the move as “a stab in the back”.
“We built a relationship of trust with Australia, and this trust was betrayed,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “This is not done between allies, especially when there’s been two years of negotiations for this contract.”
France not only recalled their ambassador to the U.S. shortly after last week’s announcement, but Australia and Great Britain (also part of the deal), as well. The Elysee said no decision has been made about the French ambassador to Australia, and no phone call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been scheduled.
In Wednesday’s joint statement, it was acknowledged “the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France”.
The statement went on to say Biden and Macron will meet in October. It’s part of “a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives”.
Following the Macron-Biden call, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. The video above also contains a clip from that meeting. It was a move made with the goal of repairing the damage the deal did to broader EU-U.S. relations.
“The United States also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defense, that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to NATO,” the statement said.