The vice president arrives in Paris on Tuesday for a four-day visit, the latest move in a concerted effort by the Biden administration to shore up the US relationship with America’s oldest ally.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected accusations by French ministers that his government had shown duplicity in its decision to abandon a 56-billion-euro diesel-powered submarine deal with France, saying he had always been clear about the position of Australia, which has instead opted for nuclear-driven vessels in an agreement with the US and UK.
The announcement of a US-UK-Australia defence pact to face China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region has brought an abrupt and unexpected end to a 56-billion-euro deal signed in 2016 for the sale by France to Australia of 12 submarines, which will now instead be built in the US and UK.
