French president tells Australian leader it’s up to Canberra to repair relations after AUKUS deal damaged trust — RT World News
Speaking during a call on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that it was Canberra’s responsibility to repair relations between the nations in the aftermath of the AUKUS deal.
This conversation was their first after Australia had announced that it was ending a AUS$90billion (USD$67.67billion) contract to purchase nuclear-powered submarines via the AUKUS agreement.
“Australia’s unilateral decision to scale back the French-Australian strategic partnership by putting an end to the ocean-class submarine programme in favour of another as-yet unspecified project broke the relationship of trust between our two countries,”A readout from the French government indicated that the call was received.
France invited Australia to address how they could move forward. “propose tangible actions”This reflects the “political will”To “redefine the basis of our bilateral relationship and continue joint action in the Indo-Pacific.”
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After a simmering, multibillion-dollar dispute about a submarine deal, the EU has rescheduled free trade talks with Australia.
The Australian prime minister’s office confirmed the call took place and that the leaders had a “candid discussion on [their] bilateral relationship,”You can also add that “looks forward to future collaborations on our shared interests.”
AUKUS, which was announced in September, is a deal between Australia, the UK and US to supply Canberra with nuclear-powered subs. It replaced a previous deal, struck in 2016, that would’ve seen Australia secure nuclear submarines from the French government and Naval Group.
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