Biden tells Macron US 'clumsy' in Australia submarine deal
Working to patch things up with an old ally, President Joe Biden told French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday the U.S. had been ''clumsy'' in its handling of a secret U.S.-British submarine deal with Australia, an arrangement that left France in the lurch and rattled Europe’s faith in American loyalty. Biden and Macron greeted each other with handshakes and shoulder grabs before their first face-to-face meeting since the deal was publicly announced in September, marking the latest American effort to try to smooth hurt French sensibilities. Biden didn’t formally apologize to Macron, but conceded the U.S. should not have caught its oldest ally by surprise. ''I think what happened was — to use an English phrase — what we did was clumsy,'' Biden said, adding the submarine deal ''was not done with a lot of grace.'' |
US-China talks start with warnings about misunderstandings and miscalculations
15211:18NATO chief Stoltenberg says it's 'not too late for Ukraine to prevail' against Russia
19510:06#Bloomberg: Macron Is Gauging Support for a Plan to Install Draghi in the Top EU Job
371Yesterday, 17:00Biden gave the green light to help Ukraine
359Yesterday, 10:30Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by US to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
359Yesterday, 10:00Patel: ''US welcomes the beginning of the process of delimitation of the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia''
233Yesterday, 09:48