United States Vice President Kamala Harris and French President Emmanuel Macron pleaded on Monday February 15 for "close bilateral and multilateral cooperation" in the face of Covid-19 and climate change, in an interview telephone.

During this first exchange, the American Vice-President and the French President said they "agreed on the need for close bilateral and multilateral cooperation to deal with Covid-19, climate change, and support democracy at home and around the world, "the US vice-presidency said in a statement.

During this interview, Kamala Harris also expressed her commitment "to revitalize the transatlantic alliance," the statement said.

"They also discussed many regional challenges, especially in the Middle East and Africa, and the need to face them together," the text continues.

>> Read: Kamala Harris Vice President of the United States: The Rise of a Pioneer

"Let's move forward together"

The vice-president also "thanked President Macron for his leadership on the subject of gender equality and for France's contribution to NASA's Perseverance Mars 2020 rover".

Glad we had this first talk @VP Kamala Harris!

Let's move forward together on all the challenges we face: climate, gender equality, regional crises, and our space cooperation with (hopefully) a new step this Thursday with Perseverance's landing on Mars!

https://t.co/5Qb1T8Pkqp

- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 15, 2021

In a tweet in English, the French president said he was "happy with this first discussion".

"Let's move forward together on all the challenges we face: climate, gender equality, regional crises, and our space cooperation with (hopefully) a new step this Thursday with the landing of Perseverance on Mars", tweeted the French president.

After seven months of travel, NASA's Perseverance rover will attempt to land on Mars on Thursday, an ultra-perilous maneuver that will mark the start of a multi-year quest in search of traces of ancient life.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR