Washington. September 20. INTERFAX-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to smooth over the sharpness in relations with France that arose after the British-American deal with Australia on the construction of submarines instead of French ones.
"Our love for France is indestructible. We are very proud of our relations with France, it is of great importance for this country," Bloomberg quotes Johnson's statement on the plane to journalists accompanying him on a visit to the United States.
The Prime Minister added: "These are exceptionally friendly relations, cordial, they date back a century or more, and are vital for us."
This week, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the creation of a new trilateral security partnership - AUKUS.
The first major initiative of AUKUS will be the construction of a nuclear submarine fleet for Australia. This provides for the refusal of Canberra from the contract for the construction of submarines with the French company Naval Group for $90 billion.
At the same time, as reported, French President Emmanuel Macron was not informed about the preparation of the partnership agreement, its details were agreed by the three parties at the June summit of the "big seven" in Cornwall in the south of England from June 11 to 13. In the British government, the documents relating to the transaction were marked "top secret", their discussions took place in specially protected rooms.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian earlier denied reports that preliminary consultations were held with France before the announcement of the agreement, saying that "this is not true." The allies "do not treat each other with such cruelty, with such unpredictability," the minister said.