France has decided to withdraw its ambassadors in Washington and Canberra for consultations amid the creation of a new strategic security partnership, AUKUS, which includes the United States, Britain and Australia.

This is also due to the loss of a major contract for the supply of submarines to Australia, provoked by the actions of the American administration.

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the diplomats were recalled at the direction of the President of the country, and the decision was due to the "exceptional seriousness" of statements made in recent days from Australia and the United States.

Paris also refused to participate in the celebrations marking the 240th anniversary of the Battle of the Chesapeake - the decisive naval battle in the US Revolutionary War, in which a French squadron fought the British Empire on the side of the newly created United States.

According to media reports, the events were supposed to take place at the Fifth Republic embassy in Washington, as well as aboard a French frigate in Baltimore.

However, a high-ranking representative of the French Navy, who was supposed to represent Paris at events along with diplomats, returned to his homeland ahead of schedule.

The French diplomatic mission published a joint statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister Florence Parley, in which it was emphasized that Washington's decision to exclude Paris from its strategic partnership with Australia demonstrates a lack of consistency and is regrettable.

White House spokesman Jen Psaki, commenting on the situation, avoided a direct answer to a question from journalists with a request to comment on France's actions.

She also assured that Paris had been notified of the creation of AUKUS prior to the official announcement.

“The focus of the President (Biden. -

RT

) is to maintain and continue our close relationships with the leaders of France, Great Britain, Australia, as well as to achieve our global goals, which include ensuring security in the Indo-Pacific region.

It is on this that he is focused, and we will continue to work on a productive and constructive partnership with France, ”TASS quotes her.

Later, the White House noted that they understand the position of Paris in connection with the recall of the ambassador and intend to work on resolving the differences that have arisen.

  • Embassy of France in the USA

  • © Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress

"Backstab"

On September 15, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the creation of the AUKUS alliance (named after the first letters in the names of these countries in English).

At the same time, Morrison said that Australia is canceling the contract with the French Naval Group for the supply of 12 submarines.

This agreement was to be the most expensive in the history of the Australian Navy, and the French media called it "the contract of the century."

The prime minister explained that when Australia signed the contract in 2016, Canberra did not have the ability to build and operate nuclear submarines.

However, as the situation in the Asia-Pacific region changed, the presence of nuclear submarines became a strategic necessity, and it was decided to abandon the acquisition of French non-nuclear submarines of the Attack class.

The nuclear submarines for the Australian Navy will be built in partnership with the United States, which will transfer technology to Canberra, Morrison said.

At the same time, the Prime Minister said that Australia does not seek to possess nuclear weapons, and the new submarines will not be equipped with them.

This decision caused an extremely negative reaction from the French side.

Le Drian called the termination of the contract a confidence-undermining move, adding that Paris has questions about US behavior as well.

“This story is not over, we have contracts, and the Australians have to explain how they are going to get out of them.

There is no clarity in the statements made.

France intends to show great firmness in this matter, "Le Drian emphasized.

Recall that in 2016, when the contract was signed, the politician headed the French Ministry of Defense.

Now he noted that such unpredictable unilateral actions to break existing agreements are reminiscent of the steps of the Donald Trump administration.

The French Foreign Minister said that he was “angry” at the current situation: “The Allies do not behave like that.

It's actually a stab in the back.

We have built a relationship of trust with the Australians and it is committed. "

The minister's reaction was commented on in Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed surprise at Le Drian's words and recalled that several years ago Moscow found itself in a similar situation because of the actions of Paris.

“Where does anger and bitterness come from?

Breaking contracts for France seems to be a common thing.

In 2015, Paris canceled a deal with Russia for two Mistral aircraft carriers.

Or are only those knives that you feel in your back bad? ”The diplomat wrote in Telegram.

President Emmanuel Macron was also criticized because of what happened - French politicians felt that he could not get the due respect for Paris from Washington.

“The largest French military contract with Australia has just been canceled.

France is no longer respected by its allies, ”said presidential candidate Xavier Bertrand.

In turn, Republican MP Eric Ciotti noted that the termination of the agreement is "for the benefit of the United States" and represents "reprehensible naivety towards Joe Biden" on the part of the government, and also symbolizes France's loss of influence during the Macron presidency ...

Jean-Luc Melanchon, the leader of the “Unconquered France” party, expressed the opinion that Paris should “stop harboring illusions, renounce submission and withdraw from NATO”.

He, along with a number of other parliamentarians, made an appeal, which says that this situation calls into question the connection of the Fifth Republic with the Anglo-Saxon allies.

"The disruption of the submarine deal because of Washington is another event that should lead to an accurate assessment of the relationship between France and its historical ally," RIA Novosti was quoted as saying.

Experts interviewed by RT believe that the US influence on the denunciation of a major military contract with France will inevitably cause a resonance in the EU.

“The French have begun to realize that the United States never plays fair to the end, it can always change the rules of the game, and this means that the principle of international trust has already been severely undermined.

This quarrel will not go unnoticed, and after the presidential elections in France, it will influence the formation of the further political course of Paris towards the American side, ”stressed Sergei Sudakov, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Sciences.

He admitted that Washington's unwillingness to reckon with its allies and their interests could lead to the intensification of centrifugal processes in NATO.

“Now the largest European concerns are increasingly beginning to talk about the fact that they know how to produce weapons, and the EU countries can independently ensure their own security.

Today, most Europeans realize that the NATO bloc is just a business model that allows money to be transferred from one pocket to another, ”the political scientist explained.

Strategic balance

The current situation caused a negative reaction not only in France, but also in China.

Thus, the official spokesman for the PRC Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian said that the decision of the United States and Great Britain to transfer technology to Australia for the construction of nuclear submarines is "extremely irresponsible."

The Chinese diplomat noted that such a move undermines stability in the Asia-Pacific region, intensifies the arms race and damages global efforts to nonproliferate nuclear weapons.

According to Zhao Lijian, the countries of the region have every reason to doubt that Australia will adhere to its nuclear non-proliferation commitments.

"China will pay close attention to the development of the situation," said a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry and added that some countries should "abandon the Cold War thinking and zero-sum games."

At the same time, the Biden administration argues that the new partnership "is not directed against any countries" - this, in particular, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

“It is definitely not intended to restrain someone.

It aims, like all our security efforts, to maintain a rules-based world order that Australia and the United States strongly believe in and will defend.

This is what we are talking about, ”the diplomat said.

  • US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin during a visit to Australia

  • © AP Photo / Andrew Harnik

In turn, the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin said that the transfer of technology to Canberra for the construction of nuclear submarines is a step to strengthen cooperation.

“The goal of the partnership is to help strengthen our trilateral cooperation and opportunities in all areas.

The first step is to help Australia acquire a nuclear submarine fleet, and in the future we will work on this task, ”- said the head of the defense department.

Commenting on the situation, former OSCE Vice-President Willie Wimmer, in an interview with RT, noted that the formation of AUKUS "makes it clear that even in the global Anglo-Saxon alliance there has been a split."

Wimmer believes that this is also evidenced by the absence of Canada and New Zealand in the new partnership.   

“As we know, New Zealand and Canada are part of the Five Eyes Alliance, which has been an important part of American, Anglo-Saxon politics since the end of World War II, but even that is now failing,” Wimmer said.  

Sergei Sudakov believes that, despite the assurances of US officials to the contrary, the new strategic partnership between the US, Britain and Australia is aimed at containing China in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The Asia-Pacific region is a priority for the United States, and now they are trying to strengthen their positions in the South China Sea with the help of Australia.

This new alliance was created to intimidate China, ”the expert is sure.

Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political-Military Studies of the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commenting on the creation of AUKUS with the simultaneous termination of the defense contract with Paris, noted that all this could seriously complicate American-French relations.

“Until now, the United States has undertaken non-market methods of competing in the arms trade against its geopolitical opponents, primarily against Russia, and never against its NATO ally.

Undoubtedly, such a step will be a serious blow to US-French relations.

Given the influence of France in the EU, it can be expected that this will have an impact on US-European relations, ”the analyst said.

According to him, it is still premature to talk about the steps taken by France, but this situation will definitely affect the degree of trust in Washington.

“Now it is difficult to say to what extent Paris will reach in its response to such actions by the United States, but it can be expected that there will be quite serious distancing in solving a number of practical issues on various aspects of American-French relations,” Batyuk believes.