The aim of the meeting of the allies is to “restore trust”, it was said in advance from the Elysée Palace. Washington officials said Biden and Macron would speak on many topics, including working together for security in the Sahel and Indo-Pacific regions. The meeting took place on the Friday before the G20 summit in the French Vatican embassy in Rome.
The dispute between the NATO partners arose when the USA announced a new security alliance for the South Pacific together with Great Britain and Australia without prior consultation with Paris or Brussels. According to this, Australia should be given access to US technology for the construction and operation of nuclear submarines. That meant France lost a multi-billion dollar diesel-powered submarine business to Australia. This had led to angry reactions in Paris and raised doubts about the reliability of the transatlantic partnership.