Daily Times

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in Paris next week in a new bid to ease tensions after French anger over a submarine contract, the State Department announced Friday. Blinken will travel to Paris from Monday through Wednesday for a meeting of the OECD club of advanced market economies and also meet French officials on “further strengthening the vital US-France relationship,” spokesman Ned Price said. Blinken and his French counterparts will discuss issues including “security in the Indo-Pacific region, the climate crisis, economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the transatlantic relationship and working with our allies and partners to address global challenges and opportunities,” Price said in a statement. Blinken will then fly from Paris to Mexico City for his first trip to the neighboring country as the top US diplomat, a trip already announced by the Mexican government. France was infuriated last month when Australia canceled a multibillion-dollar deal for French submarines, saying it would pursue US nuclear versions as tensions rise with China. France accused the United States of betrayal and Australia of back-stabbing and briefly withdrew its ambassador from Washington as a protest.