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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Macron to Hold Call with Biden over Submarine Deal


Sun 19 Sep 2021 | 02:29 PM
Omnia Ahmed

French President Emmanuel Macron is going to have a call with US President Joe Biden in the next few days, the French government spokesman said on Sunday.

Macron and Biden will discuss the diplomatic crisis triggered by Australia's cancellation of the submarine contract with Paris.

"President Biden asked to speak to the President of the Republic, and there will be a telephone discussion in the next few days between President Macron and President Biden," Gabriel Attal told news channel BFM TV.

Attal noted that France would be seeking "clarification" over the cancellation of a submarine order.

The scrapping of the contract, struck in 2016, has caused fury in Paris, which claims not to have been consulted by its allies. The Australian government, however, says it had made clear its concerns for months.

The spokesman added that discussions would need to take place over contract clauses after the initial "shock" of the cancellation.

On Friday, France recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a ferocious row over the scrapping of a submarine contract.

Macron made the exceptional decision due to the “gravity of the announcements on September 15 by Australia and the United States”, stated Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in a statement.

This diplomatic backlash came two days after Australia announced the scrapping of a major purchase of French conventional submarines in favour of US nuclear-powered submarines.

The announcement represented “unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners,” said the statement