US tries to make nice with France after Australia sub snub
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit France next week.[Guilhem Vellut / CC BY 2.0]
WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit France as the Biden administration tries to smooth over hurt feelings and other damage caused by excluding America’s oldest ally from a new Indo-Pacific security initiative.
The State Department says Blinken will visit Paris next week for an international economic conference but will also meet with French officials to discuss the rupture in relations.
Friday’s announcement comes after national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with the French ambassador to the U.S. to try to restore trust between the countries.
The ambassador had just returned to Washington after having been recalled to Paris to protest the exclusion of France and the European Union from a new Australian-U.S.-British security strategy.