White House: Biden Hopeful Call With Macron Step to Return US-French Relations to Normal

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Joe Biden hopes that a call with the French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day will return the bilateral relations between the two countries to normal following the announcement of the US-Australia deal last week, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

“The President [Biden] is hopeful this [call] is a step in returning to normal and a long important abiding relationship that the United States has with France,” Psaki said at a press briefing. “The President reaffirmed the strategic importance of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, as something that we look forward to continuing to work with them on.”

This comes after last week's diplomatic row between the two countries caused by the announcement of a new strategic partnership pact between the US, the UK and Australia, called AUKUS, and Canberra's unilateral withdrawal from a $66-billion deal with Paris on the supply of French conventional submarines. Instead, Australia has opted for building its own subs using US and UK nuclear technology.