Biden to Speak With Macron Soon, Psaki Says, Following Sub Spat

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron will speak by phone soon, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, following French outrage after the U.S. cut a submarine deal with Australia.

Biden plans to “reaffirm our commitment to working with one of our oldest and closest partners on a range of challenges that the global community is facing,” Psaki told reporters on Monday.

French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on BFM TV over the weekend that Biden had requested the call.  

“What’s at stake in this crisis is the strategy” in the Pacific, “which is more important than the commercial considerations,” Attal said. 

Australia plans to abandon a previous deal to buy French-made diesel-powered submarines after agreeing to buy U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the French submarines wouldn’t meet his country’s future security needs.

France withdrew its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australian on Friday in protest of the deal. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.