The stated objective was to restore confidence.
This Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron received the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, a few weeks after the diplomatic crisis caused by the cancellation, by Australia, of a major contract for French submarines following a partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom in the Indo-Pacific region.
Officially, the two men - whose face-to-face meeting was not initially planned - continued "their coordination work on issues of common interest, be it EU-NATO cooperation, the Sahel, or of the Indo-Pacific space ”.
But the diplomatic crisis was on everyone's mind.
"We could have, we should have done better"
It is also on this subject that Antony Blinken, guest of 20 hours of France 2 this Tuesday evening, was questioned in the first place.
"I understood" that France feels betrayed, he commented.
“We could have, we should have done better” on the subject of submarines, he even admitted.
To read alsoAustralian submarines: the underside of the breach of the "contract of the century"
“I was happy to be able to spend time” with Jean-Yves Le Drian and Emmanuel Macron, he assured.
The head of American diplomacy also recalled that other subjects had been discussed and in particular the strengthening of links and joint work between the United States and France on several issues.
"There is a very important opportunity to deepen this cooperation, this coordination," said Antony Blinken, in perfect French.
This interview was also an opportunity to review the departure of the United States from Afghanistan.
"Ending" this war, the longest for the United States was "the right answer", assured Antony Blinken, before specifying that 60,000 Afghan partners were "in progress" to welcome the United States. should be "65,000 by the end of the month."
