
France vs US envoy heats up, blocked from govt access after skipping summons
India Today
France has restricted US Ambassador Charles Kushner's access to French officials after he skipped a summons over Trump administration comments.
France’s spat with the US ambassador to Paris took another turn Tuesday, with the French foreign minister saying the top US diplomat in France must respond to a summons and won't have access to French government officials until he complies.
French authorities had summoned Ambassador Charles Kushner, the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, for a meeting on Monday over comments from the Trump administration that France objected to. But Kushner did not show up, the foreign ministry said.
The US Embassy did not immediately respond to repeated requests for comment.
Speaking Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the failure to attend the meeting as “a surprise” that flew in the face of diplomatic protocol and will dent Charles Kushner’s ability to serve as an ambassador.
“It will, naturally, affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country,” Barrot said, speaking to public broadcaster France Info.
He said that Kushner "is bringing difficulties on himself. Because for an ambassador to be able to do his job he needs access to members of the government. That’s the basics.”

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