President Biden, after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, told reporters, "I think what happened was, to use an English phrase … clumsy." He added "it was not done with a lot of grace." Biden was referring to a U.S.-Australia defense deal reached in September that undercut an existing $66 billion agreement by Australia to buy submarines from France. The issue has fueled French anger at Washington and Canberra for weeks. Biden was seeking to patch up relations in advance of a meeting of the G-20 group of large economies this weekend. |
No comments:
Post a Comment