French Ambassador returns to United States after Biden's 'friendly' call with Macron

Following friendly talks between US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne returned to Washington on September 29.

News agency Sputnik reported that Etienne landed at Washington's Dulles International Airport on Wednesday. However, when asked questions about his France tour, he declined to take any of the queries raised from journalists. The major development came two weeks after the envoy was called back to Paris over the cancellation of a multi-billion dollar submarine deal. However, all the issues regarding the cancellation of the deal were "sorted out" following a 30-minute telephonic conversation between US President Joe Biden and his French President Emmanuel Macron. 

It is worth noting that the 'friendly' phone call between the two presidents came after the UK, Australia and the US signed the security pact, AUKUS. The pact saw the United States and the UK backing Canberra's bid to acquire nuclear-propelled submarines. This development paved the path for the cancellation of a previous agreement signed between Australia and France-based defence companies. Following this, France recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington as the multibillion-dollar deal to build French submarines was dropped by the Australian side.

Biden, Macron held 'friendly' call, agreed to meet next month 

According to a report by the Associated Press, the White House contacted Macron and appealed to discuss the matter over the telephone till the leaders met face-to-face. According to the White House, the call between the two leaders continued for nearly half an hour in which Biden agreed to meet Macron next month to discuss the way forward.

After the telephone calls, the two countries issued a statement confirming that both the leaders decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidentiality. Further, the report said that the office of the French President made it clear that Macron was expecting not only clarifications regarding the deal but also clear commitments from Biden.

According to the statement, both the leaders agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and other European partners. "It’s not exclusive. It’s not trying to shoulder anybody out. It’s not adversarial towards China, for instance," said Biden during the phone call. Apart from Biden's telephonic conversation, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week. Meanwhile, the return of the French envoy to the United States could be seen as an important step towards resolving the dispute between the US and France.

(With agency inputs, Image: AP)