Washington:
French Ambassador to the United States Philippe Etienne has returned to Washington following practically two weeks of absence amid the dispute among two nations more than the US submarine contract with Australia, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the airport.
Etienne declined to answer journalists’ queries upon his arrival at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on Wednesday.
The ambassador was referred to as back to Paris on September 17, two days following Australia abandoned a $66 billion agreement on submarines with France in favour of a partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom beneath the trilateral safety alliance AUKUS. France thought of the move a “stab in the back,” and also recalled its ambassador from Australia.
On September 22, following a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden on the matter, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to send Etienne back to Washington.
Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed the problem with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, noting that the restoration of self-confidence among the two states “would take time and action.”
In mid-September, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia declared the formation of AUKUS as a platform for defence and safety cooperation. The announcement came as Canberra unilaterally withdrew from the $66 billion agreement on submarines with Paris in favour of the provide of automobiles inside the framework of the alliance.