France accuses Biden of sinking Australia submarine deal

French FM says US-UK-Australia defence deal was a ‘stab in the back’, as he draws parallels between Biden and Trump.

France has accused US President Joe Biden of acting like his predecessor Donald Trump after Paris was pushed aside from a lucrative defence deal that it had signed with Australia.

Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s comments on Thursday came a day after the United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced they would establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific that will help Australia acquire US nuclear-powered submarines.

The pact, dubbed Aukus, is understood to be an attempt to counter China, though the three leaders did not mention Beijing explicitly in their remarks on Wednesday as they revealed the move.