WASHINGTON, 30 October 2021, (TON): US President Joe Biden admitted to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron Friday that his country had been "clumsy" by securing a submarines deal with Australia behind France's back.

Biden said in the first meeting with Macron since the row erupted last month "we have no better ally than France.”

Biden added that what happened was, to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy, it was not done with a lot of grace.

It was the clearest sign of contrition from the US since the start of a diplomatic row that saw France recall its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra.

The US president said "I was under the impression that France had been informed long before, that the (French) deal was not going through.”

Biden called France an "extremely, extremely valued partner and a power in itself" with the "same values" as the United States.

Macron welcomed the efforts put in place by the US to defuse the crisis, noting that a series of consultations between Paris and Washington had taken place in recent weeks.