Under the title "After a Rift and Rare Crisis... Sullivan Meets French Ambassador in Washington," the Arab News website reported that following a recent phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron to ease tensions in their countries' relations stemming from the French submarine crisis and the canceled deal with Australia, the White House announced on Friday that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with French Ambassador Philippe Etienne, who has returned to Washington.
The statement clarified that this meeting was in line with the commitment of the two presidents to initiate in-depth consultations on a range of strategic issues.
Restoration of Relations
It noted that the National Security Advisor welcomed the ambassador's plan to start a dialogue with American officials. This meeting is also expected to pave the way for discussions on ways to create conditions for restoring trust between the two parties and to explore concrete measures to achieve the common goals of both countries.
It is worth mentioning that Biden spoke with Macron last week, where they discussed the submarine crisis and agreed to meet in Europe in the coming days for further discussions. This came after the bilateral relations experienced severe tension since mid-September, following the announcement by the U.S. president of the formation of a new strategic alliance that includes Australia and Britain, an initiative that resulted in the cancellation of a massive deal that Canberra had signed with Paris for the purchase of French-made submarines.
The French capital described the cancellation of that deal as a stab in the back and betrayal, leading to France recalling its ambassadors from both Canberra and Washington. U.S. attempts to calm French anger were unsuccessful for several days until the presidential call recently eased tensions somewhat, allowing Paris to send its ambassador back to the U.S. capital.
