Wooing France: Kamala Harris meets Macron after submarine spat
The Hindu
Ms. Harris’ four-day trip to Paris comes after President Biden told Mr. Macron the U.S. had been “clumsy” in handling the submarine issue.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday that their countries are ready to work together again, after a diplomatic drama surrounding a submarine deal that put the relationship at a historic low.
Ms. Harris met with Mr. Macron in the evening at the Elysee presidential palace, as part of a weeks-long effort by Washington to mend relations with France, America’s oldest ally.
Ms. Harris’ four-day trip to Paris comes after President Joe Biden told Mr. Macron the U.S. had been “clumsy” in handling the submarine issue, during a meeting in Rome, Italy on October 29. Mr. Biden did not formally apologize to Mr. Macron, but conceded the U.S. should not have caught its oldest ally by surprise. The secretly negotiated U.S.-British submarine deal with Australia led to a prior deal with France being scrapped.
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