WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Paris next week after ties between the United States and France were strained when Australia scrapped a French submarine contract in favor of a pact with Washington last month.
Blinken visits Paris from Monday to Wednesday and will chair a meeting of ministers from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as holding talks with French officials, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Friday.
Blinken will be joined by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and other U.S. officials in Paris, Price said.
Blinken will then head to Mexico for high-level security talks next Friday.
The United States, Australia and Britain on Sept. 15 announced a new security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region that would help Australia acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and see it scrap its $40 billion deal to buy French-designed submarines. France reacted angrily to the loss of the deal, calling it a “stab in the back.”
President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke the following week and pledged to begin “in-depth consultations” on the two countries’ relations.
In Paris, Blinken and French officials “will continue discussions on further strengthening the vital U.S.-France relationship on a range of issues including security in the Indo-Pacific region, the climate crisis, economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Transatlantic relationship, and working with our Allies and partners to address global challenges and opportunities,” Price said.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Giles Elgood)
