OREANDA-NEWS. French President Emmanuel Macron has claimed he was deceived by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the new AUKUS security partnership. He was quoted as saying by BFM.

Asked by an Australian journalist if he thought he had been deceived by Morrison about the secret negotiations for the new alliance, Macron said: "I don't think so, I know so".

At the same time, the French head of state clarified that he has great respect for Australia and its people. "But when you respect, you have to be at one and behave in accordance with those values," Macron added.

On 15 September, Australia, the UK and the US agreed to establish the AUKUS partnership. As part of this cooperation and in close collaboration with allies, Australia intends to build its nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

At the same time, Canberra also announced it was terminating a contract with France's Naval Group, which was awarded in 2016 and provided for the construction of 12 conventional submarines. The contract was worth $66 billion, the most expensive in the history of the Australian Navy.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the cancellation of the contract a "stab in the back", saying France's trust "had been betrayed". French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Bon, for his part, pointed out that not only France, but all of Europe, had lost confidence in Australia after the contract was terminated. Amid the diplomatic conflict, the country decided to recall its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington.

However, US and French presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron later held telephone talks and agreed on the ambassador's return to Washington. During the conversation, the US leader acknowledged that more discussion with Paris was needed before the AUKUS was announced.

Also on October 28, Macron spoke to the Australian prime minister for the first time since the crisis in relations. During the phone call, he noted that the rupture of the submarine supply contract had "broken the relationship of trust between the two countries".