America & France talks in view of AUKUS 'very positive, productive': US State Secy Blinken

After the French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday held first-ever talks with the visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the latter on October 7 stated that the discussions with the French counterparts were “positive and productive.” The meeting between the US delegation headed by Blinken and the French officials was held in the aftermath of Canberra’s scrapping of the submarine deal with France, and instead of striking AUKUS deal with Washington that plunged relations between the three countries, US, Australia, and the UK with France to a historic low. In an attempt to cement the ties, the US Secretary of State headed out for a two-day visit to Paris, despite the fact that he had no prior appointment with Macron, according to French media reports. 

Meeting lasted 40 minutes with 'common agreement'

The in-person dialogue between the US and French officials lasted an estimated 40 minutes with "common agreement, that we now have an opportunity to deepen and strengthen the coordination even though a lot of hard work remains to be done," a senior State Department official said at a briefing in Paris. Elysée, meanwhile reported about the meeting, stating that the US delegation visit was aimed at "restoring confidence” between the two nations in view of the controversial AUKUS submarine deal. 

"The conversations we had in the last 24 hours were very positive, very productive and reflect a lot of work that is in progress, the work that was tasked by President [Joe] Biden and [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron," Blinken told reporters during a press conference.

Blinken also met with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian for an hour earlier this week, ahead of a meeting with Macron. Le Drian's spokeswoman called the interaction between the two counterparts an attempt to "identify stages that may allow a return of confidence between our two countries.” Blinken then visited the Elysee Palace to meet with France President’s security advisor Emmanuel Bonne, but "then had a one-on-one with President Macron for probably about 30 or 40 minutes," the State Department official told reporters in Paris, describing the meeting as tense. 

While the senior State Department official described Blinken’s dialogue with the French counterpart as "very productive" and forward-looking, the two sides agreed that lots of work was needed to be done to amend and restore the relationship between the two nations. As Blinken also made on France 2 TV, a French reporter told him—"We expected better, especially with the change of administration, and especially with you, you speak French. You are a Francophile. We expected a better dialogue."

Image: AP