Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday he will not speak with the French president at the United Nations this week even though French anger over cancellation of a $40 billion defence contract could threaten an Australian-EU trade deal.
Australia last week scrapped a deal with France's Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and will instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership with those two countries.The cancellation of the deal has angered France, which accused both Australia and the United States of stabbing it in the back, and it recalled its ambassadors from both Canberra and Washington.
"There is not an opportunity for that at this time. I'm sure that opportunity will come in time," Morrison told reporters in New York when asked if he would speak to Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. While Australia struggles to mend ties with Europe, the nuclear-powered submarines issue has also divided Canberra's Asian allies and angered China and North Korea.