US President Joe Biden and french President Emmanuel Macron have spoken for the first time since a diplomatic spat over the formation of the AUKUS alliance
The AUKUS alliance will see the US, Britain and Australia team up with Australia scrapping a major submarine deal with France in favour of receiving America’s state-of-the-art nuclear sub technology.
In what was a 30-minute phone call, Biden acknowledged the missteps in how his administration approached the diplomatic issue.
In a joint statement, the leaders “agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and European partners.”
“President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard”.
Relations between the French and America have been at their lowest point since the Freedom Fires period at the beginning of the Iraq War.
Both Biden and Macron have agreed to meet in person at the end of October in Europe… in conjunction with Biden’s attendance at Rome’s G-20 summit.
Meanwhile, Macron has also agreed to return his ambassador to Washington after a previous recall.
