Sharjah24 – AFP: President Joe Biden admitted Friday to "clumsy" dealings with France following a bitter row over a submarine deal, at the start of a European trip designed to show off US leadership -- and mend some fences.
The president deployed a charm offensive with French President Emmanuel Macron in their first meeting since Paris erupted last month over news of a new US-UK-Australia submarine deal that left its own multibillion deal with Canberra in tatters.
"What we did was clumsy, it was not done with a lot of grace," Biden told Macron in Rome, where both are gathered for this weekend's leaders summit, adding that "we have no better ally than France".
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.
And it marked a sharp contrast to the past four years of Donald Trump's bruising diplomacy, setting a tone for a trip that includes landmark UN climate talks next week.
Macron welcomed efforts by the US to defuse the crisis, saying: "What really matters now is what we will do together in the coming weeks, the coming months, the coming years."
A joint communique issued after the meeting said the US had committed "additional assets" to France's counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel.
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