UNITED NATIONS: Tensions among Western allies cast a shadow over the start of the UN summit week Monday with France furious over a scuppered mega-contract but US President Joe Biden addressing a European grievance by easing Covid travel restrictions.
Biden arrives in New York on Monday for his first UN General Assembly in hopes of turning the page on the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump and rallying allies in the face of a rising China.
He is also seeking to step up action on fighting the pandemic and climate change and to forge global unity on Afghanistan, where the Taliban swiftly took control after Biden withdrew US troops last month.
But tensions with France suddenly took center stage after Australia last week canceled a multi-billion-dollar contract for French submarines, instead seeking US nuclear versions as part of a new three-way alliance with Washington and London.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has accused the United States of betrayal and Australia of back-stabbing and has no separate meeting scheduled yet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In an interview, Le Drian said that “many European countries” have told France that they shared concerns although he did not name them and fellow EU power Germany has been publicly circumspect.
“This isn’t just a French-Australian matter but a breach of trust in alliances and on each ally’s place in the Indo-Pacific strategy,” Le Drian told the Ouest France newspaper. US officials noted that Blinken will see Le Drian in a group setting Wednesday during talks on Iran amid last-ditch efforts to salvage a 2015 nuclear accord. Asked about a bilateral meeting, senior State Department official Erica Barks-Ruggles said that “the schedule will remain dynamic” and called France “our longest friend and partner.”
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