Scott Morrison to speak with Emmanuel Macron ‘when the time is right’ about submarine deal

Scott Morrison has no immediate plans to placate French President Emmanuel Macron, who remains furious over a dumped submarine deal.

Scott Morrison has no immediate plan to placate French President Emmanuel Macron – who remains furious with Australia over its submarine deal – saying only that he will talk to him “when the time is right”.

France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia last week after Morrison axed a $90 billion deal to buy their submarines and instead entered into a new alliance with the US and the UK to buy American nuclear-powered subs.

After US President Joe Biden phoned Macron on Wednesday to mend fences, Paris announced its ambassador would return to Washington DC next week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has no immediate plan to placate French President Emmanuel Macron, who is furious over a dumped submarine deal. Picture: AFP

But Mr Morrison told reporters in Washington that he had scheduled no such call to Macron: “The opportunity for that call is not yet. But we’ll be patient …

“We understand their disappointment … it was a difficult decision. It was a very difficult decision. And, of course, we had to weigh up what would be the obvious disappointment to France.

“But at the end of the day, as a government, we have to do what is right for Australia and serve Australia’s national security interests. And I will always choose Australia’s national security interests first …”

“Australia decided not to proceed with a very significant defence contract. And, understandably, we know that France is disappointed about that.”

UK PM Boris Johnson has told the French to “get a grip” and “give me a break”.

BIDEN, MACRON SPEAK AFTER ROW INVOLVING AUSTRALIA

Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron have spoken directly for the first time since the US entered into a new defence alliance with Britain and Australia and led France to declare its oldest ally had delivered a “knife to the back” over a scuppered submarine deal.

France reacted with fury and pulled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra after the announcement of the three-way AUKUS pact that will lead to the cancellation of a French contract to build submarines for Australia.

The US and French presidents engaged in a “friendly” phone conversation on Wednesday as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress in Washington DC, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

A joint statement from the US and France about the phone call on Wednesday said that “the two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefited from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners.”

France's President Emmanuel Macron greets US President Joe Biden before a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Cornwall on June 12, 2021. Picture: AFP

It said that “President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard,’’ and the countries had “decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a French presidency spokesperson said an upcoming phone call with Biden would be a chance to clarify the way in which the Aukus announcement was made and how the US could re-engage in its relationship with an ally, the NY Times reported.

The White House later described the conversation as “friendly” and Biden and Macron have agreed to meet in Europe next month.

According to the statement, France’s US ambassador will return to Washington after being recalled home earlier this week. There was no word on whether or not France’s ambassador to Australia will return to Canberra after also being called back to Europe in response to the submarine deal.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi outside her office in the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Picture: Getty Images

Morrison speaks during a meeting with US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on September 22, 2021. Picture: AFP

Meanwhile, Morrison visited the Capitol where he met with Pelosi and minority leader Kevin McCarthy ahead of a bipartisan leadership meeting on Wednesday.

He also paid a visit to the Pentagon where he was welcomed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd for a meeting centred on bilateral issues, and the importance of the US-Australian Alliance.

It came one day after the prime minister met with Biden in person for the first time.

Morrison last week announced that Australia will procure nuclear-powered US submarines as part of a new defence alliance with Britain and the US in the Indo-Pacific region.

Under the deal Australia will no longer buy the French submarines. Furious France calls the U-turn “a stab in the back”.

The White House said its officials held high-level talks with Paris before announcing the deal, but France has insisted it was taken by surprise.

Morrison said the French government would have known Canberra had “deep and grave concerns” about their submarine deal before it was canned.

Originally published as Scott Morrison to speak with Emmanuel Macron ‘when the time is right’ about submarine deal