LONDON / PARIS, September 22 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called on France to regain control and give allies of the United States and Australia a break after a dispute over a trilateral deal on nuclear submarines which tore up a separate French contract. .

The new defense partnership between Britain, the United States and Australia was announced last week and will give Canberra access to nuclear submarine technology.

France accused US President Joe Biden of stabbing him in the back and acting like his predecessor Donald Trump after Australia abandoned a defense contract with Paris over the purchase of conventional submarines.

Paris recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia, but snubbed Britain. He has not mentioned London in any public communication and officials have said privately that London’s role is “smoke and mirrors”.

Speaking a day after meeting Biden in Washington, Johnson told reporters: “I just think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world to ‘take a grip’ about it all, “give me a station wagon”, because that’s basically a big step forward for global security. “

He translated the English phrases “get a grip” and “give me a break” literally into French.

“He is not trying to support anyone, it is not accusatory towards China, for example, he is there to intensify ties and friendship between three countries,” he said.

ANGER

The comments are likely to further fuel the wrath of Paris. Two diplomatic sources said there had been instructions to limit contact with Britain immediately.

“The ‘Global Britain’, it seems, aims to project Britain into the world, while marginalizing Europe. We cannot accept that,” said a French diplomatic source, referring to a slogan used by Johnson to describe the UK’s post-Brexit ambitions. .

Britain’s role in promoting the new partnership appears to have been more important than initially thought, officials said, with the deal taking shape at a G7 leaders’ summit in Cornwall in June at which President Emmanuel Macron also attended.

“It is true that going back on a commitment made and the word he gave is something that Boris Johnson has difficulty seeing in what would be a problem,” said on Twitter Nathalie Loiseau, former French minister of Europe and European legislator.

“Yet that is the whole problem when you claim to want an international order based on rules and relationships based on trust.”

Highlighting the sense of anger felt in Paris – and in a rare reaction of the kind – Macron’s office flatly denied a report published Wednesday in Britain’s Daily Telegraph saying the president was ready to relinquish France’s permanent seat on the Council of UN security in exchange for the formation of a European Union army.

Neither the French Foreign Ministry nor the French Presidency were available for comment.

Reporting by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper and Gareth Jones

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