U.K.’s Johnson Seeks to Smooth Relations With France
DARWIN, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 05: In this handout image provided by the Australian Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin is seen during AUSINDEX 21, a biennial maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy on September 5, 2021 in Darwin, Australia. Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom have announced a new strategic defence partnership - known as AUKUS - to build a class of nuclear-propelled submarines and work together in the Indo-Pacific region. The new submarines will replace the Royal Australian Navy's existing Collins submarine fleet. (Photo by POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images) Photographer: Handout/Getty Images AsiaPac
, Photographer: Handout/Getty Images AsiaPac
Kitty Donaldson, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to smooth relations with France after a joint deal for nuclear submarines between the U.K., U.S. and Australia left the French government furious at losing a multi-billion dollar defense contract. “We are very, very proud of our relationship with France,” he told reporters on his way to New York. “Our love of France is ineradicable.”
He added that the U.K. and France are working on joint military operations in Mali and the Baltic states, and the two nations are also working jointly on simulated nuclear testing program.
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