US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed strengthening Europe’s defense during a phone call this Friday (22), reported the White House, which is trying to rebuild ties after a dispute over submarine contracts.
The two leaders “discussed efforts to enable a stronger and more capable European defense while ensuring complementarity with NATO,” the statement said.
Biden will meet Macron in Rome later this month, and the note said he was looking forward to the opportunity “to take stock of the many areas of cooperation between the United States and France and to reinforce our common interests.”
The last time the two spoke was on Sept. 22, when they had their first dialogue since the tense conflict over the sale of submarines to Australia seriously affected relations between the two nations.
Australia has pledged to acquire the technology of nuclear submarines from the USA, but to do so, it canceled a major agreement it already had with France for the purchase of conventional submarines. This infuriated the French.
Macron withdrew the French ambassador to Washington and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian compared Biden’s unilateral methods to those of former President Donald Trump, but “without the tweets”.
Since then, US officials have been trying to restore the links. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Paris earlier this month and had a private meeting with Macron.
In his September call, Macron received what he considered an important commitment from Biden to respect French-led efforts to promote European defense and autonomy.
The White House also announced that Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Paris November 11-12, where she will be received by President Macron.
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