France canceled meetings with British and Australian officials and is trying to rally EU allies behind its push for more European sovereignty after being humiliated by major Pacific defense pact orchestrated by the U.S.
UNITED NATIONS — France’s top diplomat declared Monday that there is a “crisis of trust” in the United States after a Pacific defense deal stung France and left Europe wondering about its longtime ally across the Atlantic.
The U.S., Australia and Britain insisted that the diplomatic crisis wouldn’t affect their longer-term relations with France, even after Paris recalled its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia for the first time in history because of the deal. Le Drian was meeting with foreign ministers from the other 26 European Union nations to discuss the consequences of the submarine deal and France's vision for a more strategically independent Europe.
While U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting the Australian and British leaders this week, he won’t see French President Emmanuel Macron, who’s not traveling to the U.N. The French government appears to have been blindsided by the agreement, and feels its own strategic interests in the Pacific — thanks to its territories and military presence there — were ignored by major allies.
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