French President Emmanuel Macron holds talks with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Paris

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Paris yesterday. Blinken is in Paris seeking to rebuild ties after a security pact between the US, Australia and Britain resulted in Canberra scuttling a defence contract for French submarines.

Earlier in the day, Secretary Blinken met French Foreign Minister Le Drian and agreed to close consultations, as President Joe Biden and French President Macron agreed in their last month's phone call. 

A



statement from the US State Department said, the two sides also agreed to remain in close contact on Afghanistan and discussed the importance of holding the Taliban to its commitments. They also discussed the Indo-Pacific and the Sahel region. 

Both highlighted the importance of US-EU cooperation during France’s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union, strengthening the NATO Alliance, US support for European security, the climate crisis, and the need for success at COP26.