The U.S. and French presidents moved to mend ties on Wednesday, with France agreeing to send its ambassador back to Washington and the White House acknowledging it erred in brokering a deal for Australia to buy U.S. instead of French submarines without consulting Paris.
In a joint statement issued after U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone for 30 minutes, the two leaders agreed to launch in-depth consultations to rebuild trust, and to meet in Europe at the end of October.
They said Washington had committed to step up "support to counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel conducted by European states," which U.S. officials suggested meant a continuation of logistical support rather than deploying U.S. special forces.