The United States and France are worried about "challenges" from Russia in Europe and other parts of the world.

This was told at the Pentagon following a meeting between the head of the department Lloyd Austin and his French counterpart Florence Parley.

"The challenges that Russia is throwing in Europe and other regions of the world also cause concern for both countries, and Austin has promised that the United States will continue to consult with France on this and other issues," - said in a statement on the US Department of Defense website.

The parties also discussed the "challenge that China poses".

“Today, as you well know, some of our competitors are working to undermine the stable and open order that you and I maintain.

So France is an ideal partner for the United States, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, because there we are trying to strengthen our common interests, ”the Pentagon press service quoted Austin as saying.

The ministry also noted that the heads of ministries were also negotiating how the countries would interact within NATO and in the format of bilateral relations.

“Our cooperation in NATO, in the Sahel and in the Middle East is one of the key factors of our long-term partnership based on common strategic interests, our shared understanding of the importance of diplomacy and a strong interest in maintaining an international order based on law,” Austin said.

In addition, Washington and Paris signed a "road map" that "strengthens cooperation between the special forces of France and the United States."

  • Meeting of Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin and French Defense Minister Florence Parley

  • Reuters

  • © Kevin Lamarque

In June, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with The New York Times that Washington is “on the same wavelength” with Paris in its attitude to oppose the possible establishment of a world order led by Beijing.

According to Blinken, the United States and France must cooperate and coordinate their actions, taking into account the growing influence of the PRC.

At the same time, the State Department announced that during the talks Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron outlined common goals to establish stable and predictable relations with Moscow "while countering Russia's aggressive and irresponsible behavior."

Relations with Russia and China were also discussed during a meeting between Macron and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit, as reported by the White House.

The sides also touched upon the topic of strengthening and modernizing NATO.

As Biden said at the time, the American side is confident in the unity of the bloc.

"They want complete obedience"

According to experts, discussing the "challenges" from Moscow and Beijing, Washington is trying to revive relations with Paris, which have recently experienced a recession.

"The Pentagon deliberately makes such statements, the purpose of which is to demonstrate that the United States and France have points of contact, despite obvious disagreements," said Nikita Danyuk, a member of the Public Chamber, first deputy director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, in an interview with RT.

Recall that relations between the United States and France have deteriorated markedly against the backdrop of a scandal caused by media reports about Denmark's possible assistance to the United States secret services in spying on European politicians, including French ones. Then Macron called it unacceptable, and also called on Washington and Copenhagen to "clarify" the situation.

Macron's numerous statements about the irrelevance of NATO did not contribute to the rapprochement between the United States and France. So, in February, on the eve of the meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries, the French president drew attention to the fact that the bloc is fighting against ideology "which no longer exists." According to Macron, Europe needs to defend its own interests and not "delegate protection" to the United States. In the fall of 2019, the French president made a resonant statement about NATO's "brain death", stressing that the alliance had completely lost coordination within the alliance. Macron expressed a similar opinion last June. Paris also called on Washington to stop imposing American weapons on NATO members, appealing to Atlantic solidarity.

According to Nikita Danyuk, given this rhetoric, we can say that the United States now intends to ensure that the French side becomes a "military-political vassal of Washington."

“We see that France, like a number of other European states, believes that the defense and foreign policy of the United States, as well as NATO, led by Washington, does not always correspond to European interests.

And this is very annoying for the United States, which wants complete obedience, ”the expert emphasized.

"Contradictions between positions"

At the same time, analysts agree that Washington's attempts to revive relations with Paris fit into the foreign policy strategy of the new Biden administration, aimed at consolidating Western partners, primarily within the framework of NATO.

“Cohesion of allies in the bloc is the main task of the current US leadership.

In this context, Washington needs to even more often and more persistently declare external challenges and threats allegedly emanating from Russia and China, and also force other countries to do the same.

The White House believes that it will be easier to restore the former Euro-Atlantic unity if everyone is constantly frightened by the danger from the Russian Federation and the PRC, ”Nikita Danyuk said.

  • The White house

  • Reuters

  • © SAUL LOEB

Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, adheres to a similar position.

According to him, Biden is now focused on strengthening Euro-Atlantic solidarity and uniting the West.

“This consolidation is based on anti-Russian and anti-Chinese rhetoric.

Washington considers the RF and the PRC to be revisionist countries that allegedly challenge the so-called world liberal order.

Here we are not even talking about preserving some kind of global hegemony, the United States actually does not have it, but about trying to stop the weakening of Western countries against the background of a changing world and the strengthening of the positions of Moscow and Beijing, "Blokhin explained in a commentary on RT.

At the same time, it is essential for Washington that its interests become the interests of the entire North Atlantic Alliance, says Danyuk.

“Let me remind you that in the military-strategic documents of the United States, the adversaries are precisely Moscow and Beijing, which allegedly undermine the democratic values ​​of the collective West.

However, NATO is experiencing an identity crisis, as Macron spoke of.

Therefore, such a Washington scheme can hardly be called effective.

The alliance is no longer homogeneous, ”he said.

Konstantin Blokhin also believes that "there is still a dissonance between the statements and actions of NATO members," despite the desire of the United States to see the bloc as a monolithic one.

“A number of states, despite their desire to cooperate with Washington, are still trying to pursue a sovereign foreign policy line.

And the positions of France on a number of issues are perceived by the leadership of the alliance and the United States as some inconsistency, roughness in the general course of the union, ”the expert said.

At the same time, Nikita Danyuk believes that the new American administration is unlikely to be able to eliminate the differences between the United States and France, including within the framework of NATO.

"As soon as the contradictions between the positions of Washington and Paris intensify, new controversial situations arise, the number of statements by the French side about the need to create its own military force that would solve geopolitical tasks not related to Washington's interests increases," the analyst said.

Danyuk also believes that relations between Washington and Paris may deteriorate further if the domestic political situation in France seriously changes, which, in his opinion, becomes more and more likely.

“The rating of the current French president, who is a left-liberal politician, is now low. Therefore, in the future, the leftists or the ultra-right conservative party "National Association" may come to power. Conservatives are bluntly saying that France needs to end close relations with the United States and pursue its own interests, and not fulfill the tasks of the American side. If this scenario is implemented in the long term, NATO's recovery will become impossible, a chain reaction will occur, processes of distance from the United States and the alliance will be launched in other states, ”the expert concluded.