The White House has confirmed that French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden have agreed that the defence pact would have benefited from “open consultation among allies”.
Furthermore, Mr Macron has decided that the French ambassador to the United States will return to Washington next week.
This follows a call between the two leaders after diplomatic relations became strained at the announcement of the Indo-Pacific defence pact between the US, UK and Australia.
Last week, France recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia, after the United States and Britain signed a nuclear submarine deal with Australia, causing Australia to scrap a previous multi-billion Euro French designed submarine deal.
The rare decision taken by French President Emmanuel Macron due to the "exceptional gravity" of the matter, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last Friday.
On Tuesday, Germany joined France in berating the United States for negotiating the security pact in secret with Australia and Britain, while the EU's top official said such behaviour was unacceptable.
Before the call with Biden on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he expected “concrete measures” from the United States to restore trust.
Macron's office added that the French president expected Biden to recognise that consultations with allies should have been held before the decision was made over the submarines, and that the United States had to recognise the need for European sovereignty.
