Collapse of Multibillion-Dollar Defense Deal: Britain, US and Australia Form Partnership, France Recalls Its Ambassadors

France accused Biden of stabbing it in the back and behaving like Trump.

Britain, the US and Australia have announced a new defense partnership. Following this, France accused the United States of wrecking a multibillion-dollar defense agreement and recalled its ambassadors. Here is what is happening in relations between the countries. 

New Defense Partnership

Britain, the US and Australia have created a new defense partnership to share advanced technologies in order to counterbalance China in the Indo-Pacific region. 

US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made statements and explained the goals of the new partnership, called AUKUS. 

The Australian prime minister said the main goal is to maintain security and stability in the region, which is a shared interest of all three countries. 

Joe Biden
President of the United States

AUKUS will bring together our maritime specialists, scientists and industry to maintain and expand our military capabilities and critical technologies. 

The partnership will for the first time allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines, but equipped with conventional weapons. Because of this, the country abandoned a 2016 contract with France worth €31 billion for the construction of 12 submarines for its fleet. It was Australia's largest defense contract. 

However, the project has faced significant delays due to a requirement to use a number of components produced exclusively locally. AUKUS also provides for cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and cybersecurity. 

France accused the US 

France accused US President Joe Biden of stabbing it in the back and behaving like his predecessor Donald Trump. The reason was Paris being pushed out of a lucrative defense deal for building submarines. 

Jean-Yves Le Drian
French Foreign Minister

This cruel, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me very much of what Mr. Trump did. I am angry and upset. This is not how things are done between allies. <...> It is a knife in the back. We built a relationship of trust with Australia, and that trust has been undermined. 

Australia chose the French shipbuilding company Naval Group to replace its Collins-class submarines, which are more than 20 years old. In early September, Australia's defense and foreign ministers confirmed the agreement with France, and in June President Emmanuel Macron praised decades of future cooperation when he hosted the Australian prime minister. 

Relations between the presidents of France and the US deteriorated during Trump's presidency. Diplomats said that in recent months there had been concerns that Biden was not being candid with his European allies. 

Biden, for his part, said France remains a “key partner in the Indo-Pacific zone.” Australia's foreign minister said the country hopes to continue “close and positive cooperation” with France. 

France Recalls Its Ambassadors

France said it is recalling its ambassadors to the US and Australia. The country's foreign minister said this step was “justified by the extreme seriousness of the statements” made by Australia and the US the previous day. 

In his statement, Jean-Yves Le Drian called Australia's cancellation of a major contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear submarines built with American technology “unacceptable behavior.” 

According to him, the ambassadors were recalled for consultations at the request of President Emmanuel Macron. The French president himself has not publicly commented on the issue.