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September 20, 2021 "Love for France is inextricable". Thus the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, conversing with reporters during a flight to New York, downplayed the diplomatic split with France due to the new security pact with Australia and the United States, ensuring "the immense importance" of the relationship between the two countries, as reported by the PA agency.
The security deal and Australia's related decision to cancel a multi-billion dollar French submarine deal in favor of US nuclear-powered ships sparked outrage in Paris, with President Emmanuel Macron calling back, in an unprecedented move , the French ambassadors to Canberra and Washington. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said over the weekend that Britain was a "third wheel" in the affair and accused London of "constant opportunism". France has canceled a meeting scheduled for this week between Defense Minister Florence Parly and his British counterpart Ben Wallace. But on the plane Johnson downplayed France's concerns. He made it clear that the pact "it's in no way meant to be zero-sum, it's not meant to be exclusive. ”“ It's something no one needs to worry about and especially not our French friends, ”he added.