European sources reported Thursday that doubts about the summit followed US President Joe Biden’s decision to enter into a defense pact with Australia and the UK without consulting the EU. The Netherlands was among the countries that wanted the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) established in June to continue.
European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager wrote on Twitter Thursday evening that the summit will take place.
France, in particular, was set on fire by the conclusion of the AUKUS defense pact which caused the EU country to miss a contract for submarines worth more than 30 billion euros. The feud between France and the United States has calmed down somewhat, after a conversation between Biden and President Emmanuel Macron. But other events, such as the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, have also shocked the EU at the lonely behavior of the United States.
There are ten working groups within the TTC in which negotiations are conducted on technological cooperation, the modernization of standards, the screening of foreign investments and the control of exports. According to insiders, the two economic superpowers have already been able to strike several deals and an agreement on artificial intelligence standards in recent weeks. This would then be announced in Pittsburgh.
Blinken: Restoring relations with France “will take time”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a one-to-one meeting with his French counterpart that restoring relations with France will take time. “We recognize that it will take hard work, not just in word but in deed,” Blinken told reporters Thursday in Washington. He also underlined his “respect” for Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
French President Macron was outraged by the AUKUS security pact between the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, which canceled the purchase of French submarines worth more than $ 30 billion. euros. The ambassadors of France in the United States and in Australia were recalled and Le Drian evoked “a stab in the back”.
After US President Joe Biden called Macron on Wednesday, France promised the French ambassador would return to Washington next week.
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