Macron has yet to comment on the matter

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A woman runs past the closed French Embassy in Washington, DC (DANIEL SLIM /)

The move represents a shocking turnaround for France under centrist Macron, who – after an increasingly bitter relationship with former President Donald Trump – warmly shook hands with Biden at a G-7 summit in June and confirmed that “America is back”.

. This reminder is his most daring foreign policy decision to date during a four-year presidency during which he sought to strengthen France’s diplomatic footprint and role in shaping European policies, and to rally France’s neighbors around its vision of a Europe less dependent on the US military. umbrella.

France has been campaigning for several years for a European phone number library strategy to strengthen economic, political and defense ties in the region from India and China to Japan and New Zealand. The EU unveiled its plan for the Indo-Pacific this week.

For the first time since coming to power in 2017, Macron will not deliver a speech at the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly from next week. Le Drian will deliver the French address instead.

Earlier on Friday, a senior French diplomat, who spoke anonymously in line with standard government practice, said Macron received a letter from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday morning announcing the decision to cancel the deal on the submarines.

French officials then decided to contact the US administration “to ask what was going on,” he said. He added that talks with Washington took place just two to three hours before Biden’s public announcement.