WASHINGTON, 07 October 2021, (TON): President Emmanuel Macron held talks with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his first meeting with an American official since the scrapping of a submarine contract with Australia plunged relations into crisis.

Blinken, who has been seeking to patch up ties with France after Canberra ditched the deal as part of a security pact with the UK and US, did not originally have an appointment with Macron on the agenda for his two-day visit to Paris.

The one-on-one meeting lasted around 40 minutes with “common agreement that we have an opportunity now to deepen and strengthen the coordination” even though “a lot of hard work remains to be done”, a senior State Department official told reporters in Paris. The Elysee also confirmed the meeting with Macron, saying Blinken’s visit would contribute to “restoring confidence” between the sides.

Macron was furious last month when Australia scrapped a multibillion-dollar deal for French submarines, saying it would pursue US nuclear versions instead. His government called secret talks leading up to the cancellation “a stab in the back” and the French president recalled his ambassadors from Washington and Canberra.