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The Aukus agreement makes France no longer sell submarines to Australia.
The Australian-UK-US Defense Agreement (AUKUS) signed by the United States, Britain and Australia last week triggered a diplomatic turmoil between France and the United States, and the two countries are currently trying to resolve the conflict.
The agreement cost France 37 billion U.S. dollars (27 billion pounds) worth of arms sales contracts. France won a contract in 2016 to build 12 submarines for the Australian Navy.
Paris stated that they only learned of the matter a few hours before the announcement of the Australian-UK-US defense agreement.
The Presidents of the United States and France issued a joint statement stating that open consultations between allies will benefit the development of the situation.
This Wednesday (September 22), US President Biden and French President Macron talked on the phone for half an hour. They will also meet in Europe at the end of next month, possibly during the G20 summit in Italy.
France’s anger is obvious. Its foreign minister said that the US’s actions were “knife in the back.” Macron ordered the recall of the French ambassadors to Washington and Canberra, a rare move among allies.
AUKUS: How do the heads of Australia, Britain and the United States sign the new security agreement?
However, the ambassador to Washington will now return to his post. As for whether the ambassador to Australia will also return, there is no news yet.
President Biden reiterated the importance of France and Europe’s participation in Indo-Pacific affairs.
The statement also emphasized that the United States recognizes that France has taken the lead in strengthening European defenses for many years as a complement to NATO.
Earlier, after France reacted fiercely to the Australia-UK-US defense agreement, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on French President Macron to “come down.”
Johnson said that he and other leaders were “a bit surprised by the intensity of the French response” and said, “We all want to reach out and everyone wants to contact Paris and try to solve some problems.”
The AUKUS agreement was reached last week. It is widely believed that the agreement aims to counter China’s influence in the controversial South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that “the cooperation between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia on nuclear submarines has severely undermined regional peace and stability, intensified the arms race, undermined international nuclear non-proliferation efforts, and runs counter to the wishes of regional countries.”
Zhao Lijian also called on “The United States, Britain, and Australia should abandon the Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow geopolitical concepts, conform to the trend of the times of peace and development, and stop engaging in small groups and small circles.”
Analysts said that the AUKUS agreement may be the most important security agreement reached between the three countries since World War II.
However, it is still unknown how the meeting of senior EU and Australian officials will proceed next week. This is the third meeting between the European Union and Australia, or between the European Union and the United States, and may be postponed due to the AUKUS agreement.
The U.S. and France agree to let go of the past and move on
Analysis by Washington reporter Nomia Iqbal
This is a typical American “non-apology apology”: an apology for the process (lack of consultation), not for the policy itself (AUKUS).
But we did get a picture of President Biden and President Macron talking on the phone with a smile. It tried to convey the message that everything is good.
As far as the joint statement itself is concerned, it is usually quite boring, but there are many implications behind it.
First of all, this is a joint statement, and usually both parties will issue a copy. Therefore, after the “friendly 30-minute conversation,” the leaders of the two countries tried to show a consistent position.
From the very beginning, France made it clear that it was President Biden who initiated the call-this may be what France wants to let the outside world know. Then came the sentence: “The two leaders agreed that open consultations will benefit the situation”-again, does France want to do this?
But the United States also has a say, and Biden has not changed his underlying message that Europe needs to make more contributions to its own national defense.
Finally, the joint statement sharply reminds people that the United States has provided additional counter-terrorism support in the Sahel region of West Africa, and France has also invested a lot of money there.
In short, this is clearly a well-planned statement that allows both parties to understand their point of view and move on.
But talking on the phone with a smile is one thing. What will happen when the presidents of the two countries meet in Europe next month?
It is worth mentioning that President Macron will be re-elected next year. His strong stance with President Biden is very important in France, but he also needs to find a way out. Today’s call conveyed this message.