Blinken and Le Drian to Attend Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will participate in New York on Wednesday in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, during which they might "exchange views," even though they have not yet arranged a bilateral meeting to discuss the crisis that has emerged between their countries. An official from the U.S. State Department told reporters that the two ministers will take part in a traditional gathering with their counterparts from the other permanent member states of the Security Council, along with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday evening. The official added, "They will certainly be in the same room," namely in the UN Security Council chamber, and "will exchange views on a number of matters." While the official confirmed that the ministers have not yet decided to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions, they did not entirely rule out the possibility of such a meeting occurring. Le Drian stated on Monday that he does not intend to hold a bilateral meeting with his American counterpart, but he may encounter him "in the corridors" of the UN. Another scheduled meeting on Wednesday between Blinken and Le Drian and their British counterpart Liz Truss and German counterpart Heiko Maas was canceled. The U.S. official attributed the cancellation to a scheduling conflict, but several diplomatic sources told AFP that the cancellation was requested by Paris. The crisis between Paris and Washington erupted on September 15 following U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement of a new defense alliance between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, expanding the scope of American nuclear-powered submarine technology to include Australia, along with cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and underwater naval capabilities. One of the first outcomes of this alliance was the cancellation of a massive deal that Canberra had struck with Paris to purchase French-made submarines and replace them with U.S. nuclear-powered ones. In response to the agreement, France recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia for consultation, a unprecedented action towards historic allies. A phone call between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to take place "in the coming days."